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REMEMBRANCE DAY: A TIME TO SAY THANKS
Remembrance Day this year falls on Monday November 11th. It is a day to remember the pride and sorrow of those men and women that gave their lives in two great wars that we the living may live in peace and freedom from oppression.
On Monday in every city and village of our great country we stand in silence at the cenotaph Is it too much to take the time to give thanks? A moment in our busy lives to reflect on the past can seem like an eternity.
Remembrance of the sorrow that excessive wars has cost Canadians is painful. But there is enough time for each of us to find in our own way to pray for peace. A peace justly forged by people and nations of good will to strive to make a better world. To-day we remember those who gave their lives for us.
November 11, 1918 was the end of World War One, which had raged on for four long years. Canada a relatively small country of seven million citizens suffered the loss of 68,000 soldiers who died serving their country. To-day many years later we are honoring the fallen not of one war but two terrible catastrophic conflicts.
The victorious Allies rejoiced in the thought that had not just beaten their enemies but had banished war for all time. The frightful slaughter of the Great War they thought had shown that modern warfare was too horrible, costly in lives and resources for us to repeat.
People of the world they thought would gladly join under the umbrella of the League of Nations together to build a barrier against future outbreaks of this scourge. Sadly this was a vain hope of the soldiers who fought for a better to-morrow. John McCrae, author of in Flanders Fields, reminded us that: "if ye break faith with us with us who die. We shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders Field."
Twenty years later in 1939 was the start of World War Two where more then sixty million people were killed over a six year period ending with the defeat of the Germans and Japanese.
Since the end of the Second World War we have born witness to conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Yugoslavia, Middle East. Canada lost over one thousand soldier who were killed in battle in Afghanistan and thousands more who came home with physical injuries along with Post Traumatic Symptoms.
We in the hamlet of Dorchester are justifiably proud of the good work of our local Royal Canadian Legion members. Bob Bennett and Shane Lynch from Dorchester take the time to visit fifteen veterans twice a month at Parkwood Hospital. To sweeten their Thursday’s the Ladies’ Auxiliary members of the Legion bake delicious home made pies for the vets to enjoy.
Students whose parents/grandparents who served with the Canadian Military are encouraged to apply for the $500.00 " Royal Canadian Legion Assistants Bursaries" to help pay for their post secondary school education.
Please take the time to buy a poppy. The once a year campaign is a major source of funding for the Legion. It uses the funds to ensure veterans and their dependents and memorials are cared for and treated with respect.
Please join with your fellow villagers to meet at the Cenotaph at 10.45 in the morning on Dorchester Road to pay respect to our soldiers/veterans and their families. Everyone is welcome at the Legion after the memorial service to partake of delicious bowls of hot home-made soup.
Len Lesser