The support of the public has touched the family of a Red Cap who was murdered in Iraq.
Corporal Paul Long, 24, was killed in southern Iraq last June after a mob surrounded a police station in the town of Majar-al-Kabir in the aftermath of the war.
He was one of six Colchester-based soldiers who were killed in the siege.
They were all from 156 Provost Company, Royal Military Police, based at Goojerat Barracks, who were serving in Iraq.
Cpl Long's younger brother Byron is involved in the Debt of Honour campaign, calling for the six men to be honoured with posthumous medals.
He said: "We have got 3,000 signatures in the house at the moment. It's fantastic."
He said he was expecting more names to be added to the petition.
He said the community in South Shields where he and his mother Patricia live have been backing the campaign.
The other Colchester-based men who died were Sgt Simon Hamilton-Jewell, 41 from Chessington, Surrey; Cpl Russell Aston, 30 of Derbyshire; Cpl Simon Miller, 21 of Washington, Tyne and Wear; L Cpl Ben Hyde, 23 of Northallerton, Yorks and L Cpl Tom Keys , 20, of Llanuwchllyn, Wales.
Published Friday March 5, 2004
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