Letter: War veteran George had right to speak his mind
The good and the great of Wellington with their boundless vision tried to reduce Wellingtonian, George Evans - a courageous 92-year-old who has viewed first-hand the depths of human depravity during the Second World War, seeing things the rest of us could barely even comprehend at Belsen - as not fit to give a reading on Remembrance Day.
This is something he has done for 25 years.
The representative of the British Legion says that George has had his time and must go.
Presumably because they have concluded that people these days have no stomach for listening to the authentic experiences of war.
For those who argue that it's up to the Legion to decide who speaks, I would agree if it weren't meant to express sentiments of the whole community.
The Remembrance Day event is to remember and contemplate war and its consequences.
Wars are too important and the casualties too destructive to leave to politicians to deliberate.
The Remembrance ceremonies happening throughout our country should be used to allow people to make up their own minds about the legitimacy of taking lives in warfare.
Councillor Pat McCarthy, People First Party, Wellington
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