Remembrance Day 2002 has come and gone; discarded are the poppies, forgotten are the speeches and overlooked are the survivors. Granted, many politicians who would not know a veteran or a survivor if they tripped over one, spoke platitudinous words to assembled Canadians. The speeches, we all should know, were probably written by a hack and merely mouthed by the politician. This is particularly so with those who sup at the trough in Ottawa. One can have little respect for or interest in the words spoken when, in an earlier statement; the minister of national defence knew not the difference between Vimy and Vichy. When veterans and survivors heard the minister's gaffe, they merely hung their heads in shame; shame that a federal cabinet minister responsible for the country's defence did not know the difference between a World War One battle that, in many respects, broke Canada away from the suffocating British Imperial Army chokehold and the French puppet government of Marshall Petain of World War Two. One does wonder what Canadians did to deserve such ignorance in those who represent us in Ottawa.
The survivors mentioned previously are the families of those killed in action in this country's world wars and, more recently, so-called peacekeeping. Dead is dead whether or not killed on the battlefield of a world war or a United Nations-sanctioned war or in a desperate attempt to keep two sworn enemies from each other's throats. In all respects, Ottawa placed Canadians in harms way. It has often been said - and written - that those who sanction war ought to be the first to face the enemy on the battlefield.
As normal, my wife and I attended the Cenotaph in our small village. Over the past few years, the number of those attending has increased to the point that the grounds abutting the Cenotaph are filled to overflowing with sincere Canadians. As is the custom, four stalwarts from the local cadet corps guard the Cenotaph. This year, the cadets stood guard round the clock with each foursome's duty a four-hour watch. Fortunately, the rain was light and the wind not severe.
At the appointed hour, attention was called to the Cenotaph guards and their tender age. In a rather poignant comment, the 'narrator' of the Service pointed out the ages of the young guards. He said that their ages were the same as those young Canadians who stepped forward and answered their country's call to arms and marched off to war only to be killed. The bulk of this country's youth who volunteered for service were aged between 18 and 20 years. That was so in World War One, World War Two and the Korean War. In my case, I was 18 years old when I sailed away, fortunately, none of my comrades died in action but we all matured quickly. I looked at the Cenotaph guards and thought, yes, it was so; we all were so damn young. Now, those who returned, are much older, more stooped of shoulder, displaying less hair and more belly, but no less proud of our accomplishments or of our nation.
Another point that was so prominent during this and previous Remembrance Day services, is the increasing number of young who attend. My heart swells with pride and my eyes mist over when I see the Cubs, Scouts, Brownies, Girl Guides and the various cadet corps march by. With children like those, this country's future would appear to be in good hands. Now, if only we can clean up the mess we made in Ottawa, we might at least be able to leave those Cubs, Scouts, Brownies, Girl Guides and cadet corps youth something to go forward with.
No Canadian veterans remain alive from the Boer War and those who survived World War One are few in number; even World War Two veterans' ranks are diminishing; and while it has been slightly more than fifty years since the start of the Korean War, veterans of that war are fewer and fewer annually. Veterans of the Gulf War and the various peacekeeping actions grow older and their ranks reduce.
As Remembrance Day 2002 closes let us not forget those Canadians who served in the armed forces of the United States in a war that the U.S. was destined not to win. Viet Nam was a horrible war and was the first that appeared nightly on the six o'clock news in living colour with all the sights and sounds of death. Without government censorship, the news was raw and riveting. Also, let us not overlook the heroism of the sailors of the merchant marine who sailed across the oceans of the world to keep open the very necessary supply lines. Moreover, the nurses who volunteered for service and died ought not to be forgotten when we wear the Poppy. Additionally, the brave civilians who served behind enemy lines as spies and who received no recognition for their actions should not go unnoticed on Remembrance Day. And the survivors, the families who were left behind when Johnny went marching off to war never to return; think of them, too.
Bob Orrick is a private tutor of English grammar, literature, poetry and Canadian history to off-shore youngsters. His pupils hail from such places as Taiwan, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Venezuela. He was previously in international marketing, was a ministerial assistant to a provincial cabinet minister, spent a few years as a reporter then editor of a community newspaper and enjoyed a career in the Royal Canadian Navy.
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