In the mid 1970s, and following an earlier discussion with Sir Leonard Cheshire VC, Lt Commander David Childs CBE RN visited the Arlington Cemetery at Washington, USA, and the National Arboretum. During these travels the idea of combining a national memorial, essentially a place for remembrance of the dead, and an arboretum, a place for the living to enjoy, began to occupy his thoughts. It was felt that the living have a responsibility to make meaningful the sacrifices of those who have died in service to their country. Why not construct a 'national memorial arboretum', to combine the remembrance of those who have fallen in peacetime as well as in wartime with the living, represented by the delight and enjoyment of an arboretum, containing trees, some of great beauty and longevity, giving a feeling of continuation through time? And so the idea of a National Memorial Arboretum was born with an appeal launched in 1994 by the then prime minister, John Major, and supported by many veteran associations.
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