'Honour our heroes' plea to council (From Thisisdorset)

'Honour our heroes' plea to council

8:20pm Wednesday 26th September 2007 in News By Dee Adcock

TERRITORIAL Army soldiers deserve to be honoured when they come back to Dorchester after serving in dangerous campaigns, town councillors heard.

Keith Wilson urged councillors to ensure that the brave part-time soldiers from C Company of The Rifles, who are based in Dorchester, are welcomed home with honour.

He told councillors that the TA team would be expected to serve in Iraq for a six-month tour at some point.

Mr Wilson, speaking during the public time at the end of the town council meeting, reminded councillors that the TA soldiers worked and lived in Dorchester.

He said: "I would like to know what plans are being put together to honour these individuals as they come back. They are people who find time to be members of the TA and they will do a six-months' tour with the battalion.

"I think they deserve a special honour when they come back."

Mr Wilson said the ceremony of the granting of the freedom of the town to The Rifles had been an important event in Dorchester last weekend.

He said: "It was a great honour and a privilege to be present at the ceremony. I don't think many of us will see another one like it."

But he thought the publicity could have been better in the town as he knew of people who had not known about it and he missed the beating of the retreat at the end of the afternoon because he did not know it was happening.

He said: "When the French market came to town, we put the flags out - could we not have put the flags out for the troops when they came to town?"

The Mayor of Dorchester, Coun David Barrett, promised the council would look into the organisation of public events to see what could be learned from the running of the ceremony.

He added that the ceremony had been a success and enjoyed by everyone who attended. He said he was delighted with the response of the crowd and the applause that greeted the parade through the town.

Coun Molly Renne said the flags had belonged to the Chamber of Commerce, which staged the French market. And she added that not everyone who comes back from a tour of action wants it to be known that they are back.

She said: "Sometimes they come back and don't want to be noticed. We need to talk to the regiment and know what they want."