Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Remembering Remembrance Day


At 3pm this afternoon, when Brittainy's shift was over and I was by myself, I decided to look at The Star's webpage. My first reaction to the headlines had been:  Holy shit, it's Remembrance Day!  How can it be November 11th already?

My second reaction had been to roll my eyes at the ironic headline: Canadian jets hit Islamic State artilery position.  More fighting, more killing of innocent people.  Would we humans never learn?

I wasn't always so cynical.   I remember, as a child of ten, writing a speech for school that honoured the soldiers who fought in World War I and the sequel World War II.  I was proud of myself because I had been taught that although war was bad it was sometimes necessary to defend your country and its ideals.

However, at the same time my mom would tell me stories about what it was like during the war years.  She told me that all the young men that she knew thought of going to war as a fun adventure, but most of them came back injured and shell-shocked.  Some didn't come home at all. 

I know some people will be upset with my post and say we need to honour the brave soldiers who gave up their lives to defend our country and lifestyle.  To those people I say: wouldn't a better way to honour those soldiers be to stop all wars?  We would be sending a message that said 'thank you for your sacrifice, we appreciate what you did so much that we never want to repeat the same mistakes again.'

Doesn't that sound reasonable to you?  It sure does to me!

No comments: