Former Army nurse to march alongside 10,000 others during Centotaph Service on Remembrance Sunday

Duane Fletcher, whose 39-year military career included tours in the Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan, will be reflecting on those who made the ultimate sacrifice and those who have become wounded, injured or sick during service at the event on Sunday, November 13.

Duane, 58, who is now Veteran’s Clinical Advisor for the North of England and Northern Ireland at Help for Heroes, joined the Army aged 16 as a junior soldier and was Commissioned in 2001 as a Nursing Officer, he was made a MBE in 2015 for helping to set up the first fully-functional Afghan-run trauma centre in Helmand province and he was awarded the Order of St John for services to Military Healthcare in 2018.

At Help for Heroes Duane provides health coaching, advocacy and direct community support to veterans to enable them to successfully engage with the NHS services in their local communities.

Help for Heroes has been supporting members of the Armed Forces community to live well after service for 15 years. In that time, the military charity has helped over 27,000 veterans and their families.

He said: “My grandfather was a Desert Rat who encouraged me to join the Army and inspired me through my initial career journey, I was fortunate to wear the same desert rat on my uniform on Operation Granby in the Gulf War.”

He will join more than 20 other veterans from Help for Heroes wearing distinctive tri-service colours when they march in the national Remembrance Sunday ceremony, held at the Cenotaph on Whitehall in London

He said: “The importance of Remembrance cannot be underestimated. It is the one time of year veterans feel they are appreciated for their time in service.

"I am extremely proud to be able to represent both myself and my colleagues time in service at the Cenotaph Service. I will be remembering colleagues and other veterans’ service and suffering. I hope to meet likeminded veterans, make new acquaintances and be able to offer support to colleagues and friends.”