GRAVENHURST, MUSKOKA, IN REMEMBRANCE DAY TRIBUTE - WHAT SOME OF US WISH TO KNOW ABOUT THE SACRIFICES OF WAR

Remembrance Day Tribute Ceremony Candles

 

Both the Mickle Memorial Cemetery = Gravenhurst and the Royal Canadian Legion – Gravenhurst Branch 302 – Cenotaph located on Bethune Drive had a number of Tribute Ceremony Candles placed on the Cenotaph bases as a Candlelight tribute to the Canadian Soldiers, leaving them burning overnight as a silent tribute to the fallen.  The tradition was started in the Netherlands in l995 when Dutch children place lighted candles on the graves of Canadian Soldiers. (Photo by Fred Schulz)

WHAT WE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE WAR - FROM OUR PARENTS

AND WHAT WE HAD TO LEARN FROM SCHOOL INSTEAD



     IT WOULD BE GRAND, IN ALL QUARTERS, LET ME TELL YOU, AS THE SON OF A WORLD WAR II VETERAN, AND SON IN LAW OF ANOTHER.....TO WAKE UP TOMORROW MORNING, IN THIS BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY OF OURS, AND KNOW THAT THE REMEMBRANCE DAY MEMORIAL, HAD INFUSED AND ENTRENCHED RESPECT INTO EACH DAY OF EVERY YEAR. TO RECOGNIZE THAT THE TRIBUTE, GIVEN SO SINCERELY BY THE PRIME MINISTER OF THIS COUNTRY, HAD THE SPIRIT OF CONTINUANCE, AND TRUE NATIONAL CONVICTION, SUCH  THAT VETERANS SERVICES WOULD BE SUSTAINED AND NOT DIMINISHED, OR OFFICES CLOSED; THAT OUR MODERN DAY VETERANS, OUR WOUNDED WARRIORS, AND THOSE SUFFERING FROM POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER, AS A RESULT OF THEIR SERVICE FOR OUR COUNTRY, WOULD BE RESPECTED AND HONORED FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES;  NOT DESTINED TO LIVE DESTITUTE AND WITHOUT THE MEDICAL CARE THEY DESERVE, AS WE HEAR MORE AND MORE THESE DAYS. REMEMBRANCE DAY IS RECORDED AS A NATIONAL HOLIDAY EACH YEAR, BUT IT IS A DAILY FIGHT FOR RECOGNITION, AND JUSTICE, THE REST OF THE ROLLING YEAR;  TO SAVE AND SECURE BENEFITS, FOR WHAT THEY HAVE SACRIFICED FOR OUR GENERAL WELL BEING. I WOULD BE DELIGHTED ONE DAY, AS A CANADIAN CITIZEN, AS A SIGN OF THIS RESPECT FROM OUR FEDERAL POLITICIANS, TO HEAR OR READ A NEWS REPORT, THAT OUR VETERANS HAVE BEEN AFFORDED MORE ECONOMIC AID, AND INCREASED MEDICAL ALLOWANCES, BEEFED-UP PENSIONS, AND MORE PAID-FOR SERVICES THEY REQUIRE FOR BETTER DAY TO DAY LIVING AND CARE. INSTEAD OF THE DISRESPECTFUL WAY OUR GOVERNMENT TODAY, ACTS FOR THE BALANCE OF THE YEAR, CLAWING BACK WHATEVER THEY CAN; AND ABANDONING THOSE THEY HONOR ON THE 11TH OF NOVEMBER,  WITH COLD HEARTEDNESS ONLY HOURS LATER. REMEMBRANCE IS AS MUCH, A WAY OF TREATING OUR VETERANS AS HEROES, IN PERPETUITY....NOT JUST ONE DAY A YEAR.


     AS I AM NOW WRITING TODAY'S BLOG, THE ANNUAL LEGION PARADE, TO THE CENOTAPH AT THE GRAVENHURST OPERA HOUSE, JUST MARCHED BY OUR STORE FRONT, LED BY A PIPE BAND AND THE TRADITIONAL COLOUR GUARD. IT'S OBVIOUS, FROM SEEING MANY PAST PARADES, THE NUMBERS ARE DWINDLING, THE RESULT OF TIME AND ITS TOLL ON THOSE WHO SERVED IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR. THERE ARE FEWER PEOPLE GATHERED ALONG THE PARADE ROUTE THESE DAYS, AND I WAS READING RECENTLY, THAT THERE IS EVEN A PROBLEM WITH VOLUNTEER SUPPORT FOR THE LOCAL LEGION BRANCH, THREATENING ITS FUTURE OPERATION. BUT I'M NOT OF THE BELIEF THAT ANY OF THE DISCONNECT TODAY, AND POSSIBLY LESS INTEREST FROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC, IS THE RESULT OF WIDE-SPREAD DISRESPECT. I WILL SAY THIS OF OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, OF WHICH I AM CONSTANTLY SHOCKED, BUT NOT ABOUT THE PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY. I BELIEVE INSTEAD, IT IS THE DIMINISHING EMPHASIS OF EDUCATION, IN OUR SCHOOLS, TEACHING LESS AND LESS ABOUT WAR AND SACRIFICE; THAT CONTINUES TO REDUCE SOCIETY'S INTIMATE UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IT MEANT TO BE ON A BATTLEFIELD, IN THE MIDST OF CANON FIRE; OR ON THE HIGH SEAS WITH U-BOATS TRYING TO KILL YOU FROM BELOW; ENEMY AIRCRAFT ATTEMPTING TO SINK YOUR SHIP FROM ABOVE. THE STUDY OF WAR IN HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY IS WOEFULLY INADEQUATE. MY WIFE WAS A TEACHER, AND SHE CONCURS, THAT IT COULD BE MUCH BROADER AND DEEPER THAN PRESENT CURRICULUM DICTATES. SO WHO DO WE BLAME FOR THIS WIDENING CHASM, BETWEEN THOSE WHO KNOW WHAT WAR'S ALL ABOUT, AND THOSE WHO FIND IT DIFFICULT TO EVEN STOP FOR SEVERAL MINUTE'S SILENCE? THE ANSWER MAY SURPRISE YOU. MAYBE YOU HAD A DIFFERENT RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR PARENTS, THAN MY WIFE AND I HAD.
     IT IS WRONGLY SUPPOSED BY SOCIETY GENERALLY, THAT IMMEDIATE POST WAR OFFSPRING, AND BABY BOOMERS, IN THIS COUNTRY, WERE PRIVILEGED TO THOROUGH AND ONGOING HISTORY LESSONS, FROM THOSE WHO MADE UP THE ALLIED FORCES. MOMS AND POPS WHO FOUND THEMSELVES IN THE MIDDLE OF WORLD STRIFE, AT H0ME, TRAVERSING THE NORTH ATLANTIC, AND ON THE BATTLEFIELDS OF EUROPE. IT IS NATURAL TO EXPECT, THAT FOLKS MY AGE, WITHIN A WHISPER OF SIXTY, HAD A FRONT ROW SEAT TO HEAR AMAZING STORIES, OF CANADA IN COMBAT. LISTENING TO FRIGHTENING TALES ABOUT BOMBING SORTEES, AND RECALLING THOSE DARING ESCAPES FROM POW CAMPS, AND SO MUCH MORE, WE WERE CURIOUS TO KNOW ABOUT. SUZANNE AND I SHARE ONE SIGNIFICANT REALITY THIS WAY, THAT MAY HAVE BEEN MORE COMMON, IN THE HOUSEHOLDS OF THIS NATION THAN WE PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT. VERY FEW OF US HAVE TALKED ABOUT THIS, BECAUSE WE RESPECTED THEIR (OUR PARENTS) RIGHT TO PRIVACY. I GUESS WE BOTH FELT, RESPECTIVELY, THAT THEY WOULD TALK ABOUT IT, IF THEY FELT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO SHARE. WE BOTH ASSUMED IT WAS SO TERRIBLE, THEY DIDN'T WANT TO INFLICT IT (THE WAR EXPERIENCE) ON THEIR CHILDREN, FOR FEAR OF INJURING US EMOTIONALLY. WHAT OTHER REASON COULD THERE HAVE BEEN, FOR DENYING US THIS IMPORTANT PERSONAL INFORMATION? HOW COULD WE TRULY UNDERSTAND THE SACRIFICES OF WAR, IF WE WERE ONLY ENTITLED TO KNOW ABOUT IT FROM TEXT BOOKS, A MODEST COURSE OF INSTRUCTION AND HOLLYWOOD? I PROBABLY LEARNED MORE ABOUT THE WAR FROM MOVIES THAN FROM MY OWN FATHER.
     SUZANNE AND I WERE BOTH DENIED HISTORY LESSONS FROM OUR PARENTS. HER FATHER, NORMAN STRIPP, WAS A TANK SPECIALIST, (MECHANIC) BEING THE ONE WHO HAD TO FIX THEM, WHEN DAMAGED IN CONFLICT, AND EDWARD CURRIE, WAS A GUNNER ON THE SHIP, COATICOOK, IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC SQUADRON. BOTH MEN SAW DEATH AND DIEING UP CLOSE, AND THE AFTERMATH OF BATTLES ON LAND AND ON THE SEA. ED SAW THOUSANDS OF MERCHANT AND RCN SAILORS PERISH, WHEN THEIR SHIPS WERE HIT BY TORPEDOS FIRED FROM GERMAN U-BOATS; AND NORMAN WAS WITH INFANTRY WHEN MASS GRAVES WERE UNCOVERED. THEY FOUND CRASH SITES WHERE BOMBER CREWS WERE STILL IN THE AIRCRACT; HAVING EITHER BURNED TO DEATH OR BEEN KILLED BY THE IMPACT.....ED SHOT DOWN ENEMY PLANES AS THE SHIP'S GUNNER, AND HE HELPED RESCUE HUNDREDS OF SAILORS FROM THE COLD ATLANTIC, ONLY TO HAVE THEM DIE, SEVERAL IN HIS ARMS, THE RESULT OF HYPOTHERMIA. NORMAN WAS IN THE MILITARY PARADE IN CELEBRATION OF HOLLAND'S LIBERATION. BUT, AS WAS THEIR CHOICE, NEVER TO BE CHALLENGED BY EITHER ONE OF US, BOTH MEN DECLINED TO TALK ABOUT THEIR WAR-TIME SERVICE. UNTIL THE FINAL YEARS OF THEIR LIVES, AND THIS WAS IN BENEFIT TO THEIR GRANDCHILDREN. ANDREW AND ROBERT LEARNED MORE FROM THEIR GRANDFATHERS THAN WE KNEW FROM THEM, IN OUR LIFE-LONG RELATIONSHIP.
     MY FATHER SOLD HIS PORTRAIT, OFF OUR WALL, TO AN ANTIQUE DEALER FRIEND. ACTUALLY, I CAN'T BE SURE HE EVEN GOT PAID FOR IT, AND HE NEVER APOLOGIZED FOR DENYING ME THIS ONE HEIRLOOM THAT I WOULD HAVE CHERISHED. HE WAS PICTURED IN HIS SAILOR'S UNIFORM, AND IN ITS OVAL FRAME,  HUNG IN OUR LIVINGROOM UNTIL MY EARLY TEENS. I WAS DEVASTATED TO FIND OUT THAT HE DISPATCHED THE PORTRAIT, SIMPLY BECAUSE HE DIDN'T LIKE IT, AND TRUTHFULLY, TO HIM, IT BROUGHT BACK TERRIBLE MEMORIES. EVEN HIS MOTHER REFUSED TO ACCEPT THE PORTRAIT, WHEN HE TRIED TO GIVE IT TO HER, AFTER THE WAR HAD ENDED. HE NEVER ONCE EXPLAINED WHY HE DENIED HIS ONLY SON, THIS IMPORTANT PIECE OF FAMILY HISTORY.
     SUZANNE'S FATHER, NORMAN, WAS UNABLE TO WATCH ANY MOVIE WITH EVEN A SMIDGEON OF WAR CONTENT. SHE SAID THAT HE WOULD BEGIN TENSING UP IN HIS CHAIR, AND AFTER ONLY A FEW MINUTES OF VIEWING, WOULD BE SITTING ON THE EDGE, WITH HIS HANDS CLENCHED TIGHTLY ON THE ARMS, AS IF HE WAS PREPARING TO SPRING-UP AND ATTACK THE TELEVISION. HER MOTHER WOULD GET UP AND TURN THE TELEVISION OFF, AND LET NORMAN RELAX AGAIN. HE HAD LIFE-LONG ISSUES WITH GERMANS WHO HAD SETTLED IN THE COMMUNITY, SOME WHO LATER IN LIFE, BECAME GOOD FRIENDS. IT WASN'T UNTIL LATE IN LIFE, THAT HE BEGAN SHARING SOME WAR-TIME STORIES AND PHOTOGRAPHS HE HAD KEPT; BUT STRANGELY, ONLY FOR THE BENEFIT OF OUR SONS, ANDREW AND ROBERT. HE EVEN GAVE THE BOYS SEVERAL PICTURES, OF A GROUPING OF CANADIANS SURVEYING AN AIRCRAFT CRASH SITE, IN HOLLAND, NORMAN BEING ONE OF THE SOLDIERS PHOTOGRAPHED. ED SHARED STORIES WITH ME IN THE LAST THREE YEARS OF HIS LIFE, BUT ONLY IF THE BOYS WERE IN THE ROOM AT THE TIME. IN OTHER WORDS, WHAT SUZANNE AND I HAD BEEN DENIED FOR MOST OF OUR LIVES, REGARDING OUR RESPECTIVE FATHERS' WAR-TIME EXPERIENCES, WE WERE GETTING THEN BECAUSE NORMAN AND ED WANTED TO SHARE WITH THEIR GRANDSONS. FOR SOME REASON, THEY THOUGHT THESE YOUNGSTERS COULD HANDLE THE INFORMATION BETTER THAN US, AT THE SAME AGE.
     THE REAL IRONY HERE, IS THAT WE WERE BOTH ENTITLED TO ANECDOTAL OR MILESTONE RECOLLECTIONS APPARENTLY, THAT I SUPPOSE WERE BETTER THAN NOTHING AT ALL. SUZANNE KNEW THAT HER FATHER WAS IN A TANK, DURING THE LIBERATION PARADE IN HOLLAND, AND RAISED THE CANON DURING THE DRIVE-BY, AS A SALUTE TO THE MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY IN ATTENDANCE. FOR ME, MY FATHER TOLD ME ABOUT BEING ON THE BRIDGE OF THE COATICOOK, AND SPITTING "INTO THE WIND." THE RESULT WAS THAT THE CAPTAIN BELOW, WAS HIT IN THE FACE BY A SAILOR'S WAYWARD FLUID. AS A PUNISHMENT, HE WAS ORDERED TO PAINT THE SHIP'S STACKS WHILE SITTING ON A TRAPEZE.....WHICH SWUNG MADLY ABOUT DUE TO WEATHER CONDITIONS, AND STORMY SEAS. THAT'S ALL WE GOT. UNTIL THEY OPENED UP TO THE BOYS IN LATER YEARS.
     I THINK WE ARE TOO HARD ON THE YOUNGER GENERATIONS TODAY, WHO IT IS ASSUMED HAVE BECOME VERY DISTANT AND DISINTERESTED IN KNOWING MORE ABOUT THE WAR YEARS. EVEN WITH MODERN DAY CONFLICTS OVERSEAS, AND OUR SOLDIERS, PILOTS AND SAILORS IN HARMS WAY, SEEM UNINTRUSIVE REALITIES IN OUR EVERYDAY, HARRIED, RESPONSIBILITY-LADEN LIVES. IF SUZANNE AND I, BABY BOOMERS, WERE DENIED AN INTIMATE EDUCATION IN WAR-TIME EXPERIENCES, HOW MANY OTHERS SHARED THE SAME REALITIES. I KNOW MANY OTHERS IN FACT, WHO HAVE SIMILAR RECOLLECTIONS, OF PARENTS BEING SILENT ON THEIR MILITARY ENGAGEMENTS. THUS, IT CAME DOWN TO HOW ENTHUSED OUR TEACHERS WERE, AND HOW MANY BOOKS THE SCHOOL LIBRARY HAD IN ITS MILITARY COLLECTION. I WAS FORTUNATE TO HAVE COME UP AT A TIME, WHEN MILITARY HISTORY WAS MUCH MORE INTENSELY STUDIED, BETWEEN PUBLIC SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY CLASS. WE'D GO BACK TO THE MOST SIGNIFICANT WARS IN HISTORY, INCLUDING BATTLES IN ENGLAND AND OF COURSE THE NAPOLEONIC WARS, THE BATTLE OF QUEBEC, THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, WAR OF 1812, THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, BOER WAR, FIRST WORLD WAR, KOREAN WAR AND SECOND WORLD WAR. IT WASN'T THOROUGH BUT WE TOUCHED ON THEM ALL, AND THIS GAVE US THE PERSPECTIVE THAT WAR IS PRETTY MUCH A REALITY OF ALL CIVILIZATION, POLITICS, RELIGIONS AND ETHNICITIES. WE DIDN'T START AT THE FIRST WORLD WAR, AS THEY DO TODAY. WE WERE CENTURIES BACK IN TIME, TO GATHER INFORMATION ON HOW WARS TRADITIONALLY GET TO THE BATTLE-STAGE. A LOT OF STUDENTS, STARTING OFF AT THE FIRST WORLD WAR, ARE DENIED MUCH OF THE BACKGROUND ABOUT HOW THE WORLD HAS PROGRESSED SO FAR, IN ARMT TO ARM CONFLICT. THEY NEED TO KNOW HOW THE WORLD'S POPULATION GOT ALONG, WHEN, FOR EXAMPLE, ADMIRAL NELSON WAS HEADING THE BRITISH NAVAL FLEET, AND WHY THE BATTLE BETWEEN MONTCALM AND WOLFE IS STILL A CONTENTIOUS AND UNRESOLVED ISSUE, DISPUTED EVEN TODAY BETWEEN QUEBEC AND THE REST OF CANADA; YET IT HAPPENED IN THE 1700'S BEFORE THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. I LOVED HISTORY CLASS, AND SUZANNE EVEN TAUGHT IT, DURING HER HIGH SCHOOL TENURE. FOR HER, SHE LEARNED MORE ABOUT WORLD WAR, AND CANADA'S ROLE, AS A TEACHER, INSTRUCTING HER CLASS, THAN SHE DID FROM HER FATHER, WHO WAS IN THE MIDST OF CONFLICT. AS AN HISTORIAN, I LEARNED FROM OTHERS, WHAT I COULDN'T LEARN FROM MY FATHER. SUZANNE AND I AGREE, THAT TO HAVE PRESSED THEM ON THE MATTER, WOULDN'T HAVE CHANGED A THING. ONLY TIME, AND APPARENTLY A FEAR THAT THEIR GRANDCHILDREN WOULD'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS LIKE IN BATTLE, BROUGHT THEM OUT OF THEIR SELF-IMPOSED SILENCE ON THE MATTER.
     SUZANNE AS A RETIRED TEACHER, AND MYSELF, AS A WORKING HISTORIAN, BELIEVE THAT THERE IS NOT ENOUGH TIME DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF WAR IN THE MODERN DAY SCHOOL CURRICULUM. EVEN AS IT WAS WHEN WE WERE STUDENTS OURSELVES, THE MISTAKEN IMPRESSION WAS, THAT WE WERE GETTING HOME INSTRUCTION ON THE WAR-TIME EVENTS. THEY NEVER ASKED US ABOUT THIS. THEY JUST ASSUMED. BUT THEY ASSUMED WRONG, JUST AS THEY DO TODAY, THAT INTENSE STUDY OF THE WAR ISN'T REQUIRED. YOU CAN GET THIS IN UNIVERSITY. RIGHT? WE ARE SUFFERING FROM A SHORTFALL IN EDUCATION, IN THIS REGARD, AND WHEN WE SEE A THINNING OF CROWDS ALONG PARADE ROUTES, AND ALSO FIND, IN THE FUTURE, THAT LEGION BRANCHES HAVE TO CLOSE, DUE TO LACK OF MEMBERSHIP AND VOLUNTEERS, PART OF THIS PROBLEM RELATES DIRECTLY BACK, TO THE FACT MANY OF US BABY BOOMERS, STILL WITH SOME BOUNCE IN OUR BODIES, WERE DENIED WHAT EVERYONE ELSE ASSUMED WE HAD PLENTY OF......AS PERSONAL TUTORING FROM THOSE WHO KNEW WHAT THE CARNAGE WAS LIKE BY IMMERSION. NOW CONSIDER THIS. IF MANY OF US WERE DENIED THIS PARENTAL TUTORING, ABOUT THIS IMPORTANT PART OF WORLD HISTORY, HOW IS IT THEN, WE WERE SUPPOSED TO INSTRUCT OUR OFFSPRING. THE CHAIN GOES ON, GENERATION TO GENERATION, AND WITH LESSER FOCUS IN THE SCHOOLS, AND FEWER BOOKS BEING PRODUCED ANNUALLY ON THE SUBJECT, IT'S OBVIOUS, THE KNOWLEDGE AND DESIRE FOR EDUCATION IN THIS REGARD, WILL CONTINUE TO DIMINISH FASTER THAN EVER BEFORE. SOME HARSH CRITICS WILL CLAIM, THAT THE ONLY WAY TO MAKE WAR RELEVANT AGAIN, IS TO HAVE ANOTHER WORLD WAR. GOD FORBID.
     SUZANNE AND I, AS THE OFFSPRING OF TWO VETERANS,  JOINTLY AGREE THAT THE STUDY OF WAR TODAY, SHOULDN'T BE OF LESSER CONCERN, IN SCHOOL INSTRUCTION.....THAN IT WAS WHEN WE ATTENDED HIGH SCHOOL IN THE 1960'S, AND EARLY 70'S. EVEN THAT WAS CONSIDERED INADEQUATE. TO ANY VOYEUR WITH INSIGHT AND KNOWLEDGE OF HISTORY, LOOKING OUT UPON THIS WORLD OF POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND MILITARY INSTABILITY, WAR IS AN EVER-LOOMING POSSIBILITY, AT ANY TIME, OF ANY DAY OF ANY YEAR. THE ATTACKS OF 9-11 SHOULD HAVE SPAWNED A GREAT NEW FOCUS ON MILITARY STUDIES, AS RELATES TO THE VULNERABILITIES OF EVERY DAY LIFE; BECAUSE EVER SINCE, WE'VE BEEN FORCED TO PAY ATTENTION TO THOSE IN THE WORLD WHO DON'T APPRECIATE OUR STAKE IN IT....OUR FREEDOM AND OUR FOREIGN POLICY. THUS, THE CRAFT OF THE TERRORIST, IS TO PUT US AT WAR PERPETUALLY, IN THAT LOOMING, SHADOWING SENSE OF FEAR AND LOATHING, WONDERING ABOUT THE VERY NEXT ATTACK TO COME OUT OF THIN AIR. SOMETIMES I THINK WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR AND DON'T REALLY APPRECIATE HOW DIFFERENT THE WORLD IS TODAY;  SIMPLY ADJUSTING TO THE DEFENSE OF HOME AND COUNTRY AS A MATTER OF DAILY LIVING. WE ARE EVER SUSPICIOUS AND KEENLY WATCHFUL, AND SOME OF US DO LIVE IN CONSTANT FEAR OF TERRORIST ACTS. SOME OF US REFUSE TO FLY OR ATTEND EVENTS WHERE THERE ARE LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE. TERRORISTS WOULD CLAIM VICTORY KNOWING THIS FACT!  WHAT TERRORISTS ACCOMPLISHED, WAS TO MAKE IT CLEAR IN OUR MINDS, THERE IS NO SAFE HAVEN LEFT ON EARTH.
       WE WILL NOT HAVE A TIME IN THIS COMING CENTURY, AND BEYOND. AFFORDING EVEN A BRIEF RESPITE IN HISTORY, WHEN WE WILL HAVE A DIMINISHED REQUIREMENT OF A FULL MILITARY COMPLIMENT FOR OUR PROTECTION. SO IT WOULD BE AN INVESTMENT IN NATIONAL SECURITY, FOR OUR YOUNGER GENERATION TODAY, AND THE SOURCE OF OUR FUTURE MILITARY PERSONNEL, TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WAR AND SOCIETY, AND ITS LEGACY, INSTEAD OF LESS.
     ONLY A FEW DAYS BEFORE HE SUFFERED A STROKE, WHICH LATER TOOK HIS LIFE, I SAW MY FATHER STANDING IN BRACEBRIDGE'S MEMORIAL PARK, FOR THAT YEAR'S REMEMBRANCE DAY CEREMONY. I WAS JUST DRIVING BY, ON THE WAY TO A RESEARCH INTERVIEW, AND I ACTUALLY HAD TO STOP, BECAUSE I COULDN'T BELIEVE HE WAS IN ATTENDANCE; STANDING WELL BACK OF THE CROWD, UNDER ONE OF THE HUGE MAPLES THAT LINE MANITOBA STREET. WHILE HE HAD, AT ONE TIME, BEEN A MEMBER, AND A PAST VICE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL LEGION BRANCH, HE WAS ALWAYS WORKING, OR PURPOSELY PRE-OCCUPIED OTHERWISE, ON NOVEMBER 11TH. I HAVE NO EXPLANATION TO OFFER, WHY HE WOULDN'T ATTEND THESE SERVICES. BUT HERE HE WAS THEN, HUNCHED OVER WITH A FAILING BACK, AND OBVIOUSLY IN POOR HEALTH, DUSTED-UPON BY THE LIGHT SNOW OF THE NOVEMBER MORNING, CONTENT IN HEART, AT LEAST, AMONGST HIS VETERAN FRIENDS.....ALMOST AS IF HE KNEW THIS WOULD BE HIS LAST OPPORTUNITY TO RECONNECT WITH A PERSONAL HISTORY, HE HAD BEEN AVOIDING FOR LONG AND LONG. BUT HE NEVER TOLD ME HE WAS GOING TO ATTEND. I DECIDED NOT TO INTERRUPT THIS MOMENT OF REFLECTION, AND RECLAMATION HE OBVIOUSLY NEEDED  WITH COMRADES.....NOT HIS SON. I UNDERSTOOD THIS. BUT IT IS THE LAST MEMORY I HAVE OF MY FATHER, STILL WOEFULLY REPRESENTING THE CHASM OF UNDERSTANDING, BETWEEN THOSE WHO WENT TO WAR, AND THOSE WHO DIDN'T.
     LEST WE FORGET.
     THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO VISIT OUR BLOG SITE TODAY. THANKS TO PHOTOGRAPHER FRED SCHULZ, WE HAVE CURRENT IMAGES FROM TODAY'S SERVICES IN SOUTH MUSKOKA.