Ric Cole was 19 years old when, in 1995, he joined the Royal Marines as a young Commando. He’d applied for three services – Royal Marines, Army and RAF – but picked the Marines, he says, partly because they immediately offered him a job. And, he adds wryly, “I think the biggest motivator for me was that a lot of people said I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t particularly sporty, in the traditional sense. I wasn’t big or strong – I’m not a stereotypical Commando.”
Nick Hungerford, who was from the West Country but lived in Washington DC in the latter stages of his life, set up the charity Elizabeth s Smile in his daughter s name to help bereaved children.