Remember

 

As this week we will observe Remembrance Day, I have something to say  

I wonder if I am the only Canadian who cries at the ceremonies held on November 11th every year. I hope I am not. 

Every year, I see the Veterans, whether at the local cenotaph or on TV watching the ceremony from Ottawa. I think not only of those that died in battle but of those who did come home. Many young men, and women and even some teens (who may have lied about their age), were sent to far away places to fight an enemy about whom they may have known very little. They were told that Canada was under threat. And that was enough. 

These brave souls had no idea what they would have to battle. It was not just the enemy, whoever they may be, but the very horrors that any armed conflict entails. These are things, that as a person who has never experienced war, I could not even imagine. I have watched documentaries but I am sure that they could not even scratch the surface. 

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is now some thing that is acknowledged and treatment is available, but I am sure not enough. There are so many scars that cannot be seen. Scars that are caused by what a soldier has seen, by what was done to them and what, for the sake of their lives or the lives of their fellow soldiers, were forced to do. 

Every Veteran and their Families deserve our gratitude on Remembrance Day. More importantly they deserve it everyday. Every time you take a vacation, you should thank a veteran. You enjoy the freedom of movement.  Every time you exercise the right to vote, you should thank a veteran. You enjoy living in a democracy. Every time you express an opinion that may go against your government, you should thank a veteran. You enjoy the freedom of speech. There is so much, as Canadians, we may take for granted. We should always remember that people suffered, killed and were killed so that we can live in relative comfort. 

To quote Winston Churchill; “Never was so much owed by so many to so few.”

I have attached a letter written by a WWI soldier home. I hope it will remind us all that these were no nameless men and women, but real people, who left a simple life behind to save us all.