Captain Tom 😢

[StCharlotte]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-55881753

He did more in his last year than most of us manage in a lifetime.

Truly a life well lived.

@sugarhockeyicedtea

Shame on all of you posters who think it's clever/funny to nitpick at the death of a man who did so much for the NHS that you use and help cheer others during the first lockdown.

And you know what? Even if he hadn't done all that, he was a man who had a family who loved him and have lost him.

Have some empathy.

Exactly Twitter is nicer is than this

@Chicchicchicchiclana

Surely the only thing to do on a thread like this is pay your respects?

Well you'd hope so wouldn't you?

Sigh.

I really hope he had a brilliant holiday in Barbados with his family. He lived a great life and served his country in the most remarkable fashion as a young man and as a very elderly gent. Respect to you Captain Sir Tom Moore, thank you for your service.

Thanks for the reports about this thread - we've had to delete a fair few breaking our Talk Guidelines and will continue to do so, as they are reported to us.

As many posters have pointed out, the thread is about a man who has just died and whose grieving relatives may end up reading the posts on here. Please do bear this in mind when posting.

Peace and love.

Two daughters have lost their father. That is sad no matter how old he is. I wish them strength during this difficult time.

It's always going to be sad when a very elderly person dies of whatever.

Tom is remembered because his story captured a zeitgeist. His story was picked up by the popular media, and run with, and it grew exponentially. With an element of aiding and abetting.

Tom may well have behaved heroically (in the true sense of the word) in WW2; I'm not sure of the details.

With walking the length of his garden 100 times with his walker, I say 'A good job, and well done'.

Personally, my toes are curling at the swelling notes of 'You'll Never Walk Alone', accompanying footage of salutes and fly-pasts. It feels a bit manipulative, if I'm honest.

But this toddle up and down his garden - 'heroic'? Not so sure.

I am reminded of the 'Princess Di' effect. And the 'Alfie's Army' thing.

And maybe the trip to Barbados doesn't really burnish the credentials, does it?

I am not blaming Tom; he was an elderly gent whose heart was evidently in the right place.

But I reserve my right to go 🤔 at the 'National outpouring of grief'.

@randomer

Its not about being bitter about a holiday....each to their own. he seemed like a nice chap and he had a lovely idea, then things got out of hand.

I sort of think this, too.

I feel he was ultimately a bit manipulated. He didn't set out to raise all that cash; it's just the Swiss cheese slice effect. All the holes in the various slices lined up, oddly, weirdly, inexplicably and unpredicted, and 'through it went'.

@Miljea I have to agree, it’s sad when anyone old dies, especially for their family but I too felt the same about this whole hero worship thing (I mean in this pandemic, he may well have been a war hero). I think it created a good distraction away from what was really going on and people seem to have jumped on it. The whole national mourning thing is quite odd.

The whole national mourning thing is quite odd

I don't think it's odd, and I don't see "national mourning" either.
All I see is people upset because he's of an older generation, who stepped up in the World War as a teenager, and again did at the age of 100 to raise money for the NHS (which is a good thing to do! Yes, Government should do, too, blah, blah but what he did was great too)
He was a beacon of hope and optimism when everything was shut down, and everybody miserable.
Gave people something positive to cling onto.
"Brighter days are coming"
Sometimes you just need to hear that even if Dementors try to suck it out of you.
RIP Sir Tom

Some people on here have well and truly lost their moral compass.

So judgemental
So cruel
So bloody unnecessary

Sadly so how Mumsnet has become recently.

@Thedogscollar

Some people on here have well and truly lost their moral compass.

So judgemental
So cruel
So bloody unnecessary

Sadly so how Mumsnet has become recently.

Yup, it's utterly toxic on here lately and not just this thread.

RIP

@Miljea

It's always going to be sad when a very elderly person dies of whatever.

Tom is remembered because his story captured a zeitgeist. His story was picked up by the popular media, and run with, and it grew exponentially. With an element of aiding and abetting.

Tom may well have behaved heroically (in the true sense of the word) in WW2; I'm not sure of the details.

With walking the length of his garden 100 times with his walker, I say 'A good job, and well done'.

Personally, my toes are curling at the swelling notes of 'You'll Never Walk Alone', accompanying footage of salutes and fly-pasts. It feels a bit manipulative, if I'm honest.

But this toddle up and down his garden - 'heroic'? Not so sure.

I am reminded of the 'Princess Di' effect. And the 'Alfie's Army' thing.

And maybe the trip to Barbados doesn't really burnish the credentials, does it?

I am not blaming Tom; he was an elderly gent whose heart was evidently in the right place.

But I reserve my right to go 🤔 at the 'National outpouring of grief'.

Agree with this.

Deaths are sad, when someone dies later in life it’s sad for their families and I feel for them.

I also feel that this gentleman has lived a long (and hopefully wonderful) life. He managed to achieve a lot in the last year and I’m sure his family are proud.

@Thedogscollar

Some people on here have well and truly lost their moral compass.

So judgemental
So cruel
So bloody unnecessary

Sadly so how Mumsnet has become recently.

Totally this! No more words.

@Disclosure

I don't think it's odd, and I don't see "national mourning" either.

I said no more words in my last post ... but!

There is a difference between how people on here are feeling inside vs what newspaper headlines are.

I will never understand English people.

@Theluggage15

I really hope he had a brilliant holiday in Barbados with his family. He lived a great life and served his country in the most remarkable fashion as a young man and as a very elderly gent. Respect to you Captain Sir Tom Moore, thank you for your service.

THIS with bells on!

Shame on those making the nasty comments. Imagine how you would feel if it was your Father/Grandfather and people were saying the things you are. How awful.

Such sad news, really upset me. May he be reunited with his late wife and rest in peace. God bless, Sir Captain Tom, and thank you

Captain Tom dying at 100 is not tragic- it's natural and expected. He lived a good life by all accounts. The NHS does not require charitable fundraising. Nice that he did it but there are many unsung heroes and there have been many tragic deaths during this pandemic. I cannot feel remotely sad for this man.

All this apparent weeping for someone you've never met isn't true grief, it's sentimental indulgence. You are enjoying having a little cry. Grief turns you inside out and is painful beyond bearing.

RIP.

Re the idea of a clap, it would be something to do the day of his funeral, I'm sure if we were not in lockdown his funeral would very well attended.

I cannot feel remotely sad for this man.

I feel pity for someone who has so little empathy.

@joystir59

All this apparent weeping for someone you've never met isn't true grief, it's sentimental indulgence. You are enjoying having a little cry. Grief turns you inside out and is painful beyond bearing.

Nobody with a grain of intelligence is comparing the two. You are just (wilfully?) misunderstanding.

Of course, there's a difference between losing a loved one (which Captain Tom's family) have done, and feeling emotion around the passing of someone who symbolised positive, heroic action. I'm not in the UK, but to me, what Captain Tom did, in extreme old age, where he did what he could to support others, to offer an act of service & generosity, signifies all that's good about Britain, as it has been through the ages.

It doesn't make that emotion redundant - the sense of collective mourning, remembrance of a life well-lived, and appreciation of what one man achieved at the end of his life, is important and significant, and as far from 'sentimentality' as you can get.