One of my biggest pet peeves is the way society chooses not to remember the fallen soldiers in the wars of the last century. People choose to go about their business every November 11, without recognizing the sacrifice so many men and women around the world made for our freedom.
Every November 11, Monique and I take the kids to the local ceremony here in Bedford — today will be no different. The number of veterans decreases each year and the number of names called out from the honor role increases by the same amount.
I think it’s important to show Nicole and Michael that there is a reason we can live like we do. Literally millions of people have died to give us our way of life — they need to respect that.
Today, I am proud to be Canadian and proud of the sacrifice my grandparents and their families made for our freedom.
A couple of minutes of silence and remembrance is a small price to pay.
November 11th, 2005 at 10:03 am
Great habit, Jim!
Every Canadian MUST at least observe the 2 minute silence at 11:00 A.M. It’s the very least we can all do to honour those who served and continue to serve our freedom and way of life. I would love to see every vehicle stop in its tracks at 11 AM. This is the year of the veteran and all Canadians have no excuse not to remember!
November 11th, 2005 at 10:10 am
Too many, specially the young but many older folks as well, take our freedom for granted. We are living in an era where self-indulgence is more important than caring for others. They couldn’t be bothered to take a few minutes of their precious time to think about anything but themselves.
Every Nov 11th I call my dad and Melly does as well. It’s a sad day for him as he remembers his two brothers that died in France.
November 11th, 2005 at 10:18 am
Alec, for 25 years at my workplace, no matter what we were doing, we always held the 2 minutes of silence. After the silence the receptionist would read Flander’s Field over the PA system.
That all changed the last couple of years. I swear this is the truth… it was deemed politically incorrect.
November 11th, 2005 at 10:20 am
Politically incorrect!?
I’d like the person who made that decision to talk to some veterans and rember their stories as he sits in his comfy house with his family.
November 11th, 2005 at 10:39 am
Jim, you don’t have the same degree of problem as Toronto. I’d say less than 2-3 % can claim Canadian ancestry back to WW11. Many of the employees either came from the “other” side of the war or places that weren’t affected by war. It was deemed incorrect to remember Canadian vets who killed their ancestors. I kid you not.
November 11th, 2005 at 12:02 pm
Those people should be kicked out of the Country!
November 11th, 2005 at 11:17 pm
Heck… even my dad, who was a German soldier in WWII, honoured the Canadian veterans on Remembrance Day. It strikes me he had more reason to be grateful than many. He loved this country!
November 11th, 2005 at 11:51 pm
You know Alec, I don’t think it matters which country people fought for. Soldiers died for their country and fought for their leaders — I remember those people.
I’m sure that, if given the choice, not one of them would want to be laying in the mud in November with bullets flying all around them.
November 12th, 2005 at 2:02 pm
I’m afraid we live in a society where political correctness and just plain poor manners are the norm for the times.
Some folks don’t have a clue when to keep their yap shut.
November 12th, 2005 at 2:08 pm
Are you talking about me?
November 12th, 2005 at 7:39 pm
Just wanted to say thanks for the nice thoughts even though I am a Hillbilly from the Ozarks.