Yesterday I was honoured to once again be asked to deliver the reflection at the Service of Remembrance held at Minnedosa Collegiate Institute (the high school). I am always humbled, and more than a little bit nervous to deliver Remembrance Day addresses - I wonder what I can offer when in the crowd are the very men and women who lived through the wars we come to remember.
But this year, I took a deep breathe and I offered the following reflection in honour of Remembance Day. So with my thanks to the members of the staff at MCI who entrust me with this honour, and the Legion who have, over the last 6 years expressed their appreciation of my musings about Remembrance Day - I invite you to pause today and consider what it is that we remember at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month ...
Remembrance Day – MCI – November 10th 2006
Students and staff of MCI, Comrades of the General Hugh Dyer Branch 138 of the Royal Canadian Legion, Members of the Legion Auxilary, I thank you for the opportunity to stand before you today and offer the reflection on what it is we do here and more importantly, to reflect on the importance of why we do this.
It is easy to pin on a poppy, or to stand in silence periodically to remember. But in moments like this, we challenge one another to remember what it is we are to remember each November 11th. As we stand amongst our aging veterans and remember not only the fallen, but the full effect of war upon them, upon us, our nation, and upon our world.
I wonder how many of you play video or computer games that involve fighting and battles and combat?
How many of you watch tv shows and movies that involve re-enacting battles and combat?
The other night I was channel surfing and I came across a tv show about the war in Iraq and I was struck my the imagery that crossed my tv screen. It was impressive and awesome. The explosions and the bombings and all of it was kind of cool … from a technical point of view it was breath taking …
But as I watched I couldn’t help but think that is was (thankfully) fake. The soldiers blown up in that night’s episode would live to star in another show somewhere on cable another day. Even with the impressive imagery of a truck being blown to smithereens, no one was wounded or hurt that day … the blood shed was make up and make believe …
As I watched I realized that one of the challenges we all face today as a nation that is at war in a far off land, is how to balance our enjoyment and desire for peace, and our backing of our soldiers who are doing what is asked of them with our utter rejection of war and what it represents.
Old Soldiers will sometimes quip – “war is hell …” And they know of what they speak. If you took time today to ask those men and women here who have living memories of combat in places like Juno, Cassino, Kapyong and who have served in our army, our navy and our air force over the years – to share their memories they may tell you about the good times – the moments of laughter shared with comrades – but deep within them, in the hidden corners of their souls, they hold memories of what war really is. Memories that some of them have spent a life time trying to forget … Memories that we desperately need to honour if we are to honour what Remembrance Day is about …
This morning as I was preparing and finalizing what I would say to you this morning I read a disturbing article on a Canadian News site on the internet. It was the reporting of a study done this fall asking Canadians questions about our Military history. There were a number of questions asking the participants to identify the leader of the Canadian Forces In World War One, identify the Canadian War Hero and identify other moments in Canadian History related to our involvement as a nation in wars.
What was most disturbing was the simple fact that only 42 percent of the participants had even a passing knowledge of Canadian Military History … If it was a test in a class in this place 58 per cent of the participants would fail and have to repeat …
We are losing our history. We are forgetting why we are to pause each November 11th and Remember …
More and more in our nation today people are approaching Remembrance Day asking the question – Remember what ??
One on level it is understandable. Between 1914 and 1918, over 600 000 Canadian soldiers went over to the mud and trenches of European battle fields. And today 90 years later, from that number there are only 3 veterans left and the youngest is 105 … over the passing of 90 years places like Yrpes, The Somme and Vimy become words on a page – quaint names associated with long ago battles by people who have long since passed on … Even World War Two and Korea are far away in our modern world – it’s been over 50 years since Canadian troops fought in Korea – that’s a long time ago if you’re 16 …
But on another, deeper level that is what is the very problem … We are forgetting our history … we are forgetting the very reason we have set aside one day a year to Remember. Not to remember the just the valour of those who have served, not just the glories of battle, and not to glorify war as something it is not – but we also need to remember the horrors, the hell of battle, the suffering and death of soliders and civilians, the senselessness of it all …
When I was a kid we used to spend Sunday afternoon at my Grandparents’ home in Waterloo Ontario. We would stay for supper, and while the dishes were being done, one of the habits I developed was to perch on the arm of the couch beside his chair and start peppering him with questions about his service in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1939 to 1946, when he was finally sent home to small town Ontario.
I asked him the names of his ships, and the places he went. I asked him about the parrot Polly that he bought in South America and who lived on this ship for months until it was finally sent back to the small town where my mom and her brothers lived … If you went to Chesley Ontario today and asked some of the old timers if they remembered the Elliot’s parrot, they would still smile and laugh and tell you tales of the little green parrot that could swear like a sailor (literally) in a town where the worst swear was “Oh darn …” Polly cut a wide swath after her time on a vessel of the Royal Canada Navy having truly learned the language of the sailors at sea …
I asked Grandpa about his service on the convoys that carried supply across the Atlantic to places like Londonderry and Murminsk. He told me of watching ships exploding and sinking as the other ships in the convoy raced on their crews hoping and praying that the next torpedoe from the German submarines wouldn’t hit them …
I asked Grandpa about his shore leave in Halifax, Londonderry and even a trip he took to our ancestoral home in Scotland …
I asked him what it was like to be on a tiny corvette in the huge winter storms that cross the Atlantic …
Over and over I heard the stories – they were cool. They were kind of fun, and they were a neat way to spend time with my aging Grandfather.
I’ve always valued the stories of our veterans. In my life time I have been honoured and I would dare to say blessed to hear the stories of veterans who have served in many many places, and in every branch of the Armed forces. I have listened to their stories and their memories, and I continue to cherish them.
The importance of moments like this is retelling and sharing those stories. My Grandfather served in the North Atlantic for the better part of 6 years. He never forgot the cries for help from soldiers and sailors that were left behind in the icy cold Atlantic because the other ships in convoys couldn’t stop to pluck survivors from the sea. To stop would have left the convoy vulnerable to the lurking submarines … Even forty years later he told me that he was haunted by the cries and screams that floated across the water as his ship charged forward to Europe. I remember him telling me once – “that could have been me at any moment …”
War is not cool. War is not awesome. War is not something that is exciting and fun. People get hurt. We know that in Minnedosa first hand. Today in our community a young man is recovering from injuries he received in Afghanistan. He is fortunate – he has come home. Four of his comrades died that day … War has an enormous cost … people get hurt … lives are shattered … and People die. There are memorials all over the world to the victims of war – both soldiers and civilians. When a bomb explodes it honours no uniform – it doesn’t stop because you’re a good guy, and it only claims the bad guy – it simply spreads its destruction upon who ever and whatever is near by …
War IS hell … let’s never forget that. If you doubt that even for a moment, talk to someone who has been there …
And this season of Remembrance as we wear our Poppy in these last hours before the Remembrance of the 11th Hour of the 11th day of the 11th month … let us have the courage to remember that War is a brutal way to solve our problems. Some times it is necessary – but it is never glorious or cool. It is never something to be embraced an celebrated.
This year – today – in this place, we honour and celebrate those who carry within them memories of distant battle fields and fallen comrades, and who come home to remind us of how incredibly precious the gift of peace and freedom truly is.
I would like to end today with a poem I found recently that was written some years ago by a young woman who understood the importance of remembering, and also gave thanks that many of us have been fortunate enough to never have to remember some things in life:
I don’t remember the sound of guns ringing in my ears,
I don’t remember soldiers buried in the mud.
I don’t remember the tears running down so many sorrowful faces.
I don’t remember how it feels to be attacked by thousands of soldiers, or not knowing if my husband or children will be gone forever.
I don’t know how it feels to kill someone with a bullet that I shot.
I don’t know how it feels to have lost a limb or a friend.
I don’t remember a time without freedom, peace, or loved ones nearby.
I remember peace and freedom.
I remember the joyful chirping of little birds, flying in the breeze.
I remember the warm feeling of having friends and family greet me when I come home at the end of the day.
I remember the joyful laughter of family and friends.
I remember the feeling of knowing the next day I will wake up to another cheerful morning.
I remember peace and freedom and love.
As long as I live, I will never forget the people who gave me this freedom.
Brave young soldiers giving all they’ve got to fight for their country
until the last drop of blood has fallen from their brave hearts of gold.
They were soldiers to the end, and I am thankful for all they gave
so that I could lead a happy carefree life of peace and freedom.
To all that helped me get this freedom and peace,
Whether they live in fields of poppies, or they live today – Thank You.
Thank you for the love, the peace, and the freedom
That you risked life and lime to give to me …(Cara Gregory)
In the coming days, as our tv screens continue to fill with images of war – both real and make-believe. Let us remember that the ultimate cost of war is real lives … civilians and soldiers suffer in battles …
Today as we remember – let’s not forget the stories of battles that may seem long ago, but that remain vivid and real to those who were there.
We could dismiss World War One as having happened along time ago – and no longer relevant, nor important. But today there are still 3 men who carry in them memories of what that war was like. They were there, and even if they are 105 – those memories of life as a teenager remain undimmed …
Each year we lose a few more of those who served. Our job is to hear their stories and retell them so that we never forget the cost of war, and the very reason we pause once a year to Remember.
Tomorrow, let’s not say – “Remember What?” but let’s look into the eyes of our veterans, both those who are not much older then you are … and those who are much older and know that the memories they carry of battle fields far from us are what we are called to remember …
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