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Lest We Forget

 

There is much in the media at this time of year about the two World Wars and those who fought in these and other wars – and for good reason.

My generation and all generations since have been so blessed not to have been engaged in these and other terrible wars. We have been blessed because of those who went to war on our behalf, many of whom were volunteers, many still in their teens, and most of whom died before we were born.

It is hard to envision what the soldiers during the World Wars went through.

Pat and I and our friends Anne and Bob Fisher visited both the WW1 and WW 2 sites in France and Belgium. We have walked through battlefields, looking at the row on row of white crosses that typically had the name and age of the soldier. The Jewish soldiers’ crosses had the Star of David and the unknown soldiers, of which there were many, had nothing on them but, “Known Only to God.”

Battlefield, still showing signs of the holes from bombs

We also read a few of the millions of names on memorials, saw the holes that are still there from the bombs, and read many stories of the terrible decisions made in the name of king and country which ended up costing the lives of millions of people, mainly young men.

Last October we walked to the memorial at Vimy, shivering in the cold and driving rain. Our natural instinct was to retreat to the warmth of our vehicle.

Thousands of crosses representing the many who died


Our thoughts, emotions and conscience though said, “Stay – This is the least you can do.”

100 years before the young soldiers did just that: not for an hour or two, but for day after day as bullets, grenades and bombs landed close by, often killing the person standing beside them. The only way they got dry and warm was if they were shot.

We came away from Vimy and other WW sites shaken, reflective and thankful.

These wars did have some positive lasting aspects to them. They changed the world social order including beginning the process of ending colonialism. Their memory also serves as a deterrent to future wars.

The cost of millions of lives in both wars was enormous. I have often wondered if the world order could have been changed in a more peaceful way.

WW1 and WW 2 are the wars many of us remember and commemorate.


There are many thousands of people in Canada and elsewhere who think of other wars: Korea, The Pacific, Vietnam, Syria, Afghanistan, the Balkans, the genocide in Rwanda and many other civil wars. These wars in their own way were just as terrible and senseless.

Every Remembrance Day is also an opportunity to be shaken, reflective and thankful.

It is also a reminder of the stupidity of war, often the result of a desire for power by a select few whose egos and pride will not allow them to stop even though it costs the lives of thousands and thousands of people.

Dr. John McCrae’s Operating Theatre


One of the most moving moments for me in Ypres in Northern Belgium last year was standing outside of a make-shift field hospital where Dr. John McCrae had been operating many years before.

He had just received notification his very good friend had been killed. Shortly after learning of the death of his friend he wrote this poem. It was posted beside us outside of the field hospital. We read it as we looked out on the now quiet battlefield. 

In Flanders Fields by John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.


We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.


Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

 

Lest we forget.

Till next time,

Chris Snyder

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