Wounded Times

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By Cole Moreton
Sunday, 9 November 2008
On this Remembrance Sunday, British soldiers standing in dusty battle fatigues in Afghanistan will remember a friend whose death was so recent that the feelings are still raw.


Yubraj Rai was shot during an ambush by the Taliban. Medics tried to save him, but they couldn't. The 28-year-old died in a land where the poppy does not mean remembrance. It means opium, money and power. And death.

His mates have spoken about a man with a ready smile that hid how "brave, strong and hard" he was. Yubraj used his pay from the Royal Gurkha Rifles to support a mother, sister and three brothers back home in Nepal. "We are proud of you," said one of his closest comrades, "and what you did for us, your family and for the Queen."
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