We note with considerable approval that on September 12, 2001 the Coldstream Guards (formally
Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards), during a Changing of the Guard ceremony,
played The Star-Spangled Banner as a gesture of solidarity after the attacks of 9/11. Unfortunately,
the Guard had the opportunity to play the Spanish national anthem, the Marcha Real, on March 14,
2004 in the aftermath of the Madrid subway bombings. On the Friday before United Kingdom
politicians and members of the public offered support to the Spanish people in a special mass at
Westminster Cathedral and there was a vigil at the Spanish Embassy in London's Belgrave Square.
We at I-MAG STS are C++ programmers, so we appreciate it whenever people act with class.
When it comes to the Coldstream Guard in particular and Great Britain in general there are very
high standards for actions to be described as praiseworthy. We are pleased that those expectations
were fulfilled. We would have been more pleased if the Spanish national anthem was played by the
bands of elite military units in 220-odd countries. And symphony orchestras and college marching
bands and high school choruses across Planet Earth. We would, of course, be most pleased were the
Coldstream Guards able to perform their standard daily activities for decades to come because there
were no more senseless random atrocities.
Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards), during a Changing of the Guard ceremony,
played The Star-Spangled Banner as a gesture of solidarity after the attacks of 9/11. Unfortunately,
the Guard had the opportunity to play the Spanish national anthem, the Marcha Real, on March 14,
2004 in the aftermath of the Madrid subway bombings. On the Friday before United Kingdom
politicians and members of the public offered support to the Spanish people in a special mass at
Westminster Cathedral and there was a vigil at the Spanish Embassy in London's Belgrave Square.
We at I-MAG STS are C++ programmers, so we appreciate it whenever people act with class.
When it comes to the Coldstream Guard in particular and Great Britain in general there are very
high standards for actions to be described as praiseworthy. We are pleased that those expectations
were fulfilled. We would have been more pleased if the Spanish national anthem was played by the
bands of elite military units in 220-odd countries. And symphony orchestras and college marching
bands and high school choruses across Planet Earth. We would, of course, be most pleased were the
Coldstream Guards able to perform their standard daily activities for decades to come because there
were no more senseless random atrocities.
