Lest We Forget

What is Remembrance Day? It's a big question indeed, some say it's a day for parades with old men marching to the music of bagpipes and wearing funny mismatch uniforms. Others will tell you, it's a day to remember what shouldn't be forgotten. What is this, that need not be forgotten? I think most Canadians are starting to lose their grasp of what sacrifices our ancestors made, in order that we may live in peace today.

I come from a farming background. On one side of my family, my grandfather came to Canada and was forced by the government to work (very hard, mind you) to pay his keep. He had to learn to speak a new language and milk cows from his neighbors, which wasn't easy. I think it was this way for many immigrants at the time. Farming was one of the best ways to start a new life in Canada and make an honest living. On the other side, they always were farmers, it's just the way it was. Anyway, back to remembering. None of my ancestors (within the last three generations) were made to fight in the armed forces, because they were farmers and needed to grow food to support the troops. Not losing a family member in combat, does that not make me less thankful and appreciative of the ultimate sacrifice made by so many other men? Absolutely not! Rarely a day goes by that I don't thank God for my freedom.

What is it then, that we should keep in mind? I think it's the sacrifice made by so many men. Men who had no choice but to leave their young wives, children and family at home knowing they may never see them again. Men who lied about their age just to ship out with their buddies, only to see them get killed in unimaginable ways. Men who weren't told were they were going or what they were supposed to do. Men who lived for months at a time without a change of clothes, a hot shower, food, or a roof over their heads. Men who froze to death, who were shot down out of the skies, who were drowned deep in the ocean never to be recovered. Men whose graves were never marked, mainly because they were never found after being scattered in a million pieces. Men who survived and came home, but who were never well in their minds. It tore them apart for life, they relived every one of those horrible nightmares daily after the war. Let us not forget the men and women who were forced with decisions that changed the war, for better or worse. Let us remember them all!

It has been said, "War makes the weakest men into the greatest leaders" Let us hope and pray that war itself may never need to form another leader, but peace alone. And so, this Remembrance Day, take at least two minutes to remember those who have fallen in battle, those who were able to return home to their families, and those who today, right at this moment are fighting abroad that we may sleep peacefully at night. Let us never forget!