Today marks another day to remember those who have laid down their lives for freedom from tyranny and oppression. There is a sense in the air that Remembrance Day is changing. The passing of time cannot be avoided. Neither can its effects. There is only one living Canadian soldier from WWI at the ripe old age of 107 and living in the US. There are only a few (4) British soldiers that remain – the oldest being 113.
The WWII vets are aging as well. All in their 80′s and beyond, they are slowing down. Fewer are seen at the ceremonies each year. For me, there is a sadness to this. I have no desire to glorify war. Neither do the men and women that fought in them. They simply did their job as assigned – jobs that entailed most of them putting their lives on the line. Many of them lost them. We must show them due respect at every opportunity.
What is glorious is not the war itself, but the courage to stand against the evil and tyranny that radiated from the Axis leaders of those times.
My dad was one such man. He obeyed his country’s call to intervene in the needs of the European nations under Hitler’s assault. He served only a short time, in the spring of 1945. He was captured by the Germans and, fortunately, was a POW for only 10 days. My uncle was not so fortunate, he had fought for the French army and spent almost 6 years as a POW.
Today, I wear my dad’s medals in his honour. He simply did what was asked of him. No great glamour. He actually paid a price for it. He was looked down on by his family for going. He was looked down on by the army because he was a conscript. Isolated to some degree in both contexts. Like a man without a country.
Today, I honour him and all that have paid a price in one way or another for our freedom.
However, today’s Remembrance Day seems a bit different. The news says that WWI and WWII are to far removed from today’s kids in school. Now we speak about Afghanistan and the conflict taking place there. One person said, “better to get them in their back yard than have to fight them in ours.” Our passivity in the 1930′s is what allowed Hitler to arms and attack in a way he never could have had we enforce the Treaty of Versailles. Perhaps today we are stopping something from getting out of hand. I’m not the judge of that.
I respect and honour those who, today, are active in the military. Their dedication helps insure a safe and free future for our nation and others as well. My nephew is currently serving and I am very proud of him.
As the kids of today learn about the present conflicts and sacrifices that are being made, I hope they never lose sight of the magnitude of sacrifice that was made in the 20th century so they can enjoy the peace and prosperity we now have. LEST WE FORGET.
You know Marc, it’s funny, I came across this by trying to look up some information on Papere’s regiment in WW2.
After reading this blog I have to say I do agree with the news, WW1 and WW2 is becoming too far removed from today’s classes. What’s even more discouraging is seeing how far removed the earlier Canadian history is from today’s classes. They teach the War of 1812 to children in grade 7. To me, the earlier part of our history is just as important as knowing about WW1 and WW2. In grade 7, kids are far too young to truly understand the concept of the war and the purpose of the war. They often are asked to memorize dates and names of people by teachers who don’t find an interest in the subject themselves. After working in several historical forts and doing a lot of historical research myself I believe that the War of 1812 is an extremely important part of our history and I do believe that more emphasis should be placed on it. Unfortunately, I hate to say it, but I believe that this part of our history is slowly going to be forgotten.
I often would get into conversations with people I’d met when I was in University in Windsor. One of my favorite topics (coming from such a historically knowledgeable family) is history. I would ask a simple question such as “When did Canada become a country?” I would honestly say at least half the people would say they didn’t know. To be honest with you, I began to lose faith in the average Canadian. Then one day when I was working at Fort George, I had this 10 year old boy come up to me. He was so interested, he told me all about the books he had read, all about the movies he had watched and I realized then, that no matter how many people don’t remember and don’t care about our history and the sacrifices that people made so that we can live in the world that we know today… we will always have those small numbers that will… and as long as we have those few, our memories and history will never be forgotten.
Lest we forget!