Will there be another reunion .?

Hallo Gert,

jissie, dis nou lekker om van jou te lees. Jy was mos 'n Eland kannonier, ek was ook, net twee jaar later. Het jou op youtube sien praat. Nou die dag weer op www.sainfantry.co.za paar skakels na Ops Savannah herdenking gelees. Ek koekeloer maar van hierso oorsee af en toe van die websites van die ou SAW, net om weer my kop reg te ruk van al die mislike nuus wat mens hierso lees, veral nou oor die toestroming van volksvreemdes in die hele Europa, en hoe hulle blykbaar met oop arms verwelkom word, terwyl ons in Suid-Afrika eerstehands weet wat dan sal gebeur, en 'n wereld wat skynbaar koekoes geraak het.

Hi Gert

I was not part of Savannah (was involved with Ratel evaluation at the time); but I have the greatest admiration for those who were - including my youngest brother who was at 2 SAI.

Your recollections are amazing and your comments totally acceptable - as you can only really comment on what and how you experienced. Others may well differ from some of your comments but that's life!

Personally, I think that you should continue writing until you have thoroughly exhausted your memories - and then you should sit back and read through them and accept how important what you guys did was to what followed; and be thankful that you gave your best and survived.

Nobody likes war but soldiers are prepared to die to give others the privilege of saying so.

Forget the politics and look upon yourself as a professional soldier:

THE THANKSGIVING OF THE PROFESSIONAL

I have never ceased to give thanks that life,
Whatever else it might have in store for me, has brought me
Not as a mere traveller but as a soldier into this world.
Wherever we go we often encounter hostility. The eyes that meet ours are often sullen with a consciousness of grievance and hurt.
Even the salesmen, the porters and the others who cheat us and harry us, resent us.
But none of it bothers us.
It is not we, but they who are the newcomers, the interlopers, the transients. We know it and they know it.
We belong to that which is older than any nation.
We are the Greeks, the Romans, the Moguls, the Tartars, the Aryans and the Dravidians.
We go back to the beginning of history. We are the beginning of history.
We are the soldiery!

Best regards

Tony Savides