The 11th hour of the 11th day ....
Today is Remembrance day. What does it mean to you ? - how do you honour the day ?
I haven't attended a Remembrance Day ceremony in more than thirty years. I watch it live on television - the local ceremony on cable and / or the national ceremony - most of the time. I always wear a poppy. At one time, for four years, I marched in the parade from the armories to the temporary cenotaph in the arena and stood for the ceremony. I went with all the other Cadets ( Army, Navy - I was an Air Cadet myself ). In the parade were regular forces from the base in my town and the reserves and of course the vets - Legion and Army, Navy, Air Force Vets. Dad was a vet and a Legion member. For a couple of years there were four of us in the parade - Dad, me and my two younger brothers, both Navy Cadets.
I never gave it much thought as to why I was there. It was just the thing that needed to be done. Dad always went from as far back as I can remember. As far as I know he marched for as long as he could and attended even after his stroke. He remembered, and I remember in large part because he did.
Why don't I attend the ceremonies now ? Is it because I can't be bothered to stand around in the cold ? Does that mean that I don't respect and honour the sacrifice and the veterans as much as I could ? What message does my not attending sent to my son ?
Dad was never under fire in the war. He came back whole. I don't believe he came back unchanged. He was in England when it was being bombed, so he could have been killed. I acknowledge, appreciate and remember that he volunteered to serve in a cause that defeated an evil that would have taken over the world.
Not all wars are like that. Many will say that the action in the Republic of Afghanistan is not a war of the same premise as WWII. They are right. But the deaths of Canadian service people is no less real. They too need to be remembered.
The people that die in that war are not all in uniform. They never are. We can remember all that die in war. On Remembrance Day we remember people, mostly our own people, that gave of themselves to defeat those that would oppress us.
You can remember who you wish on Remembrance Day. It is good to remember the innocent victims of war. The casualties on all sides. Those that died to preserve our freedoms are the ones that we are obligated to remember.
Wearing a poppy doesn't mean you glorify war. Many vets, who wear poppies, who have been to war, want another war to never happen.
If we remember and pause in our routine we acknowledge the debt that we owe to those that served, lost parts of themselves or people they loved and most of all those that died.
Don't forget, whatever you do, don't forget. You may hate war, you may be a pacifist that would never kill, you might be one that would only use deadly force to save your own, or your children's life, but don't forget. Because if we forget we are one step closer to it happening again.
- willy be frantic's blog
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Flanders fields
I know them well. I grew up there. I also grew up with many stories. First hand accounts from my uncles, aunts, grand parents... Long time ago different century, different time, different reality, nothing ever changes. We can look back in time and see the present and future. Lest we forget? I think we will never learn.
“Everyone talks about the weather, but no one ever does anything about it.” Mark Twain
Thanks - great link
I fear we will never learn.
My sense is that the message that vets want to impress upon future generations was not solely - do not forget the fallen. I think they want us to never forget the horror and lose of war so that we do not make war again.
The theme I find in some films and documentaries is that soldiers are willing to die, not for king and country, not for their countrymen, nor for land, gold or oil - but for their fellow soldiers. The guys in their squad, the guys at their side. Leaders, politicians and society exploit that to gain land, gold and oil.
Don't forget
That's the key term, willy. I have many reasonns to remember. The events of WWII in particular are the defining events of both my parents lives. Not that they served, they were too young. But, their lives are informed by that war.
Most years here in Vancouver I've gone to the cenotaph at Victory Square at the corner of Hastings and Cambie in the Downtown Eastside. Probably not this year. But, I don't forget. Can't forget.
Everything's cheaper than it looks.
The next....
...generation will not forget for it's own reasons and will honour the day in it's own way. I know the day is taught about in schools and that all in this country have some sense of the commemeration that the day is a holiday for.
I hope that it doesn't evolve into just a day off to shop and watch football.
Thanks for your thoughts and your actions to respect the day. I knew you wouldn't forget and all that know you will know why you remember.
Je me souviens too
Mrs. p2p and the heiress were in Vimy on the 90th anniversay of that terrible battle. I'm sitting here looking at the shirt my daughter wore that day, a replica of the one the "boys" wore so long ago.
Our friend MJ is a military memorabilia collector. He gave the heiress a cap badge that had been worn by a Canadian soldier at that battle. We had it sewn on her uniform shirt. MJ asked that she take a photograph of the soldier's name on the monument. Try as she did, she could not find the man's name among the 4,000 there.
I think of the comrades, friends, relatives, and kind strangers who searched the battlefield 90 years ago, collecting the remains of the dead and commiting them to a decent burial. Almost 4,000 Canadians died in just a few days at Vimy. There were thousands more French and others who died too.
Today is a beautiful, cold, clear day and I'll attend the ceremony in my small town. I'll be thinking about those honoured. The Mississaugas of Scugog have a small reserve nearby. Every single man from their small community volunteered for WW2. It wasn't the only First Nation to have such commitment to fight. Normally I wouldn't read, or link to, the Toronto Sun but I had to after all the excitement here in the last few days.
The last warrior
I'll be thinking about the Canadians currently serving in Afghanistan and honouring those who have died in this war.
Since this is a creative community I'd like to acknowledge the artists over at CBC Radio for their excellent work on Afghanda I really didn't want to listen to the series but I've become a fan, particularly of Sargeant Pat Kinsella, played by Jenny Young.
The series doesn't glorify war. It just brings the story home.
Peace.
Blood soaked ground...
... could not fail to make one remember the lives spent and sacrificed in that place for whatever reason. It is a humbling experience to visit a war memorial. You can't come away thinking of the glories of war - because there are none.
Thanks for the post and peace be with you also.
Thanks for that p2p
The story about Mr. Whetung and Curve Lake. I did actually read that (during the Marsden kerfuffle) a couple days ago.
A reminder, too, of something I also posted over at JJ's.
We all too often only think of WW1 and WW2 as being white, Christian Europeans and North Americans. If we think outside that box at all we remember the ANZAC troops.
There are lots of others to remember as well. This is a great pdf from the Canadian Military Journal about aboriginals and the Canadian Forces from 1939-2002 (they also served in WW1).
Remember also the Chinese-Canadian veterans of WW2, men who enlisted even though they did not even have the right to vote in this country at that time.
The Indian subcontinent sent nearly 1 million troops to WW1. I don't know their numbers for WW2 but very many were there as well.
Remember the British West Indies Regiment who particpated in three of the assaults on Vimy Ridge.
Approximately 2 million British, French and Belgian colonial troops from Africa, people of colour, served in WWI of whom approx. 165,000 gave their lives in the battles of WW1.
You would never know from watching Teh movies.
Everything's cheaper than it looks.
Also..
The Navajo Code Talkers.
I have my poppy on. I will remember.
"We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals. We know now that it is bad economics." - F.D.R
Yes, them too
also little know that Canadian Cree were also utilized as code talkers during the Invasion of Normandy.
Everything's cheaper than it looks.
Many served....
...and their contributions are only acknowledged as footnotes in history. Thanks for the links. I was unaware of the Cree code-talkers at Normandy.