Remembrance Day

     I went to the Remembrance Day ceremony held at our local Cenotaph today. It was a beautiful morning with sunshine and unseasonably mild temperatures, unlike most Remembrance Days that usually feature cold damp winds, snow, sleet, or freezing rain. How Canadian of me to start a post with what amounts to a weather report. But that's just it. I am a Canadian. On a day when we honour the courage and loss of generations of young men, who fought and died for the ideals which make this country great, it would be petty of me to make any apology for my heritage.

      My father served in the 2nd World War. I know very little of his experience. Like many veterans of conflict he did not talk much about his military service. What stories I did hear from him were not about the conflict but humourous anecdotes about jokes and pranks that occurred in the everyday life of a soldier. From what I've been able to ascertain from my mother after his death, he served as a navigator in bomber command and was injured when his plane, shot to hell, limped back to its airbase and crash landed. He was the only survivor. After returning home and recovering from his wounds, he served out the rest of the war as an army training sergeant.

     Like I said before, my father never really talked about the war. I can only suppose that he didn't want the horror that he faced visited upon his children even anecdotally. I suppose that in his mind, telling me about the war would have  defeated his purpose for serving. He did not want the next generation  to experience what he did.

     I am blessed. I have never been called to serve in armed conflict. But I am the son of a man who did answer that call. Out of love for me and my siblings  he took the horrors of that experience to his  grave. Today  I stood in the crowd and listened to the familiar aspects of a Remembrance Day service,  the prayers, In Flanders Fields recited by children, the haunting notes of The Last Post, the Benediction. I stood while wreathes were layed by community minded businesses and service clubs, by schools, by the legion, by any group that ever wore a uniform in service of their community and their country from the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides to the Fire and Police Departments. I stood with my neighbours in this little town. I stood in Remembrance of those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that I could enjoy a life of peace and security.  But, ultimately I stood in honour of my Dad. We will remember them.

    

                                    .....More later