Previous
Words for Nov. 11
As our veterans continue to diminish in number, and our role on the world stage changes, we thought it was worth re-printing an editorial we first ran in our Nov. 6, 2008 issue. It was written by Roger Varley.
As the name implies, the key word for Remembrance Day is “remember”. But many, if not most, Canadians are too young to remember the world conflicts. A large segment of Canada’s population was not even born when the Korean conflict came to an end.
So, as much as we try to retell the stories of our veterans of the First and Second World Wars and the Korean conflict, we think it is asking too much of our younger residents to “remember”. Particularly when, unlike Europe for example, there are no constant and lasting reminders of the awful costs of those wars in the form of graveyards filled with those who gave their lives in combat.
So we believe it is time to stress two new words on Remembrance Day.
The first is “imagine”.
When you see the veterans on parade November 11, try to imagine the appalling scenes they witnessed in battle. Try to imagine the awful conditions under which they fought in the jungles, the deserts and the muddy fields of Europe. Try to imagine what they felt when they saw their comrades killed in action and what they felt when they themselves killed enemy combatants. Try to imagine the suffering they went through, from the oppressive heat of North Africa to the bitter cold of European winters.
And then try to imagine how it is today for our troops in Afghanistan, fighting an enemy which is difficult to overcome because he blends in with the populace, in the same heat and cold faced by their forerunners in two world wars and Korea.
We say try to imagine because, no matter how vivid your imagination, it likely will not come close to the bitter reality.
The second word is “think”.
Think what our veterans sacrificed and what their families at home sacrificed when they went off to war. Many who didn’t sacrifice their lives on the battlefield sacrificed careers, farms, businesses and, sadly, even marriages to fight for their country.
Think also about why they went to war. They went to fight against the tyranny of the Kaiser, the tyranny of Hitler and the tyranny of the Communists.
Now our soldiers in Afghanistan are fighting against the tyranny of the Taliban and Al Qaeda and they are dying for that cause, just as their forebears died in two world wars and the Korean war.
If we take the time to imagine and the time to think, surely we will then remember to take time on Remembrance Day to honour those who returned from war and those they left behind.
And having so honoured them, let us then imagine what a world without war might be like, and think of ways to achieve it.
July 14, 2011
