Military Memory Books

Being a member of a "Band of Brothers" is always memorable whatever branch of the service you are a member of, so creating military memory books can be really important.

Bonds created during adversity are some of the strongest bonds that you can create, and it isn't only during conflict and war that they are created. There is something special about joining a service as an individual and being molded into a vital part of of a team. You share the same aspirations. You achieve more collectively than you ever could as a collection of individuals.

Whether it's the army, navy or air force, when your lives depend upon one another there is an intensity that nothing else compares with, and which nobody who has not been through it will ever fully understand.

Libraries and book stores are full of books about servicemen, both at war and at peace, but there is something really special about creating your own military memory book.

Of course, some things may need to be kept secret so as not to offer encouragement to an enemy, so it may not always be a good idea to make a note of military secrets. Even some of the more mundane things can come under this type of heading. Your own weaknesses, the distance you can march before you are completely worn out and unable to fight. But within these limits there is a whole wealth of information that can be contained in military memory books. The friendships, the postings, the trials and tribulations.

Brief cryptic notes kept at the time, can be enlarged once a crisis is over. We've read lots of stuff about how leaders reacted during the Cuban Missile Crisis, but there's not so much information about what the servicemen at the bottom were thinking and doing at the time. At every level, the feeling that today may be your last brings a certain intensity that is worth remembering.