What is The Baton?
The Baton, quite simply, is the handle of a military stretcher
Why a stretcher? a stretcher is neutral, it doesn’t discriminate and there regardless for friend, foe or local civilian coping with the reality of war
The stretcher used was not just any stretcher, many have been carried on this particular one used by the courageous Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT) in Afghanistan. People were carried to safety and care on it, tragically some dying on it, the hands that once gripped this stretcher’s handles, at times under fire, might well have been bloody themselves.
A Baton can be passed from caring hand to caring hand, carrying with it the tangible feelings of many, If it could talk what could that handle tell us? its new role is to go out into the world as far and wide as possible to help Keep the Message Alive!