Yahoo News Reports: World War II veteran, Albert “Dusty” Miller, 89 years old, has served as the grand marshal in the Royal British Legion’s annual Remembrance Day Parade for the past 40 years. The Express reports that he was unable to participate in the parade this year because he is “too old to be insured,” according to an official.
“They came up to me and said, ‘I’ve got a bit of bad news for you,’” Miller told the paper. “At first I thought somebody had died and it was going to be another funeral. Then they told me HQ insisted I had to stand down as parade marshal.”
Dusty enlisted into the military when he was only 16 years old. The Express has stated that he was a decorated servicemen, as he was awarded for each of the four military campaigns he participated in, received the 1939-45 Star, the Atlantic Star medal, the Burma Star with a Pacific clasp, and the International Submarine Service medal.
Dusty argued that he was able to handle the duties of being the marshal for the parade. The requirements of which are described and organizing and leading the annual veteran’s parade. The organizers told him that he should have retired when he turned 85 due to insurance rules.
“It hit me like a ton of bricks,” Miller said. “I was that disgusted I didn’t know what to say.”
A spokeswoman for the Royal British Legion said: “We have a duty of care towards all parade marshals and standard bearers.
“For health and safety reasons, the Legion’s insurance policy only covers persons up to the age of 85.
“We are extremely grateful to Mr Miller for his years of dedicated service to the Legion and of course welcome him to attend future parades as a guest.”
Miller stated that he had served as marshal for the past 38 years without fail or fault. “I never even knew standard-bearers had to be insured.”
Tony, Albert’s son, said: “After 40-odd years, it’s a shabby way of telling him that he can’t do it any more.”