In 1946 John Meades, stationed near Hamburg as Europe rebuilt itself, wrote home with a different kind of longing:

“Let us look forward to some day when it won’t be necessary to have to write, and I am a settled down City Business Man.”

It’s a striking line. Not heroic. Not dramatic. Just hopeful. After years of upheaval, he just wanted normality. A desk job, a routine, a future where letters were no longer needed.

John's letter reminds us that remembrance isn’t only about how wars are fought but about what people hope for when they finally stop. And perhaps that, more than anything, is why these voices still matter.