THE PRICE OF FREEDOM IS ETERNAL VIGILANCE
Thanksgiving for Canadians is over but another holiday (Remembrance Day)is soon approaching and I just wanted to share some thoughts with you before it comes upon us unawares.
If there is a fundamental responsibility for us as members of a free society, it is to ensure that we never allow ourselves to forget the great sacrifices of the past.
On June 6, 1944, hundreds of Canadian soldiers participated in the Allied invasion at Normandy Beach. This invasion was conducted against heavily fortified German positions and against incredible odds. This was the turning point in a war that had ravaged most of Europe and was the first significant victory against the German war machine.
But this victory came with a price -- most of these soldiers did not come back. The sacrifices they made have become almost legendary, but we must never lose sight of the fact that these soldiers were not superheroes. They were normal everyday men, who believed in the cause of freedom for which they were fighting and committed themselves to drawing a line against the darkness that had plagued most of Europe. Most of these soldiers were boys under the age of 19.
In the intervening 60 years, it seems that we as a society have collectively forgotten or downplayed these contributions as being of little significance. Today we have the luxury of living in a free society that seems untouched by the tyranny of the past and have fallen into a comfortable routine of assuming that it can never happen again. In such a mindset, we find ourselves forgetting that we enjoy these comforts because of the sacrifices made by thousands of men and women during not one, but two world wars.
To add to this, the ideological complications of the many conflicts on the international scene have produced a generation of individuals who would have us believe that by remembering these sacrifices we are only glorifying war. The result is that many in society continue to lose their memory in a wash of misguided social consciousness.
When one speaks to those of Dutch descent, they are forever grateful of the role Canadians played in keeping their land free. It is a sobering experience to realize that these were people who had lived through a fascist occupation and who genuinely saw our Canadian soldiers as the liberators of their country. One elderly dutch man said to me in halting English, "We owe your people a debt that can never be repaid."
The Netherlands is a place that remembers -- that does not allow its sons and daughters to forget the great sacrifices that ensured its people could enjoy freedom. It understands the price that was paid -- and the reason that price HAD to be paid -- because its people lived through it.
We are the inheritors of this legacy and should do ourselves and our forefathers proud by ensuring that we remember their sacrifices with the same pride.
Each Nov 11, we take time to remember those who gave everything to preserve our freedom. We need to help each other understand the sacrifices made and why they were necessary. I believe it is this duty to which John McCrae speaks in this line from his famous poem "In Flanders Fields" -- "To you from failing hands we throw, the torch; be yours to hold it high. . ."
To remember these sacrifices is not to glorify war, but to celebrate peace by ensuring that we prize freedom and remain always ready to draw the line against oppression.
If there is a fundamental responsibility for us as members of a free society, it is to ensure that we never allow ourselves to forget the great sacrifices of the past.
On June 6, 1944, hundreds of Canadian soldiers participated in the Allied invasion at Normandy Beach. This invasion was conducted against heavily fortified German positions and against incredible odds. This was the turning point in a war that had ravaged most of Europe and was the first significant victory against the German war machine.
But this victory came with a price -- most of these soldiers did not come back. The sacrifices they made have become almost legendary, but we must never lose sight of the fact that these soldiers were not superheroes. They were normal everyday men, who believed in the cause of freedom for which they were fighting and committed themselves to drawing a line against the darkness that had plagued most of Europe. Most of these soldiers were boys under the age of 19.
In the intervening 60 years, it seems that we as a society have collectively forgotten or downplayed these contributions as being of little significance. Today we have the luxury of living in a free society that seems untouched by the tyranny of the past and have fallen into a comfortable routine of assuming that it can never happen again. In such a mindset, we find ourselves forgetting that we enjoy these comforts because of the sacrifices made by thousands of men and women during not one, but two world wars.
To add to this, the ideological complications of the many conflicts on the international scene have produced a generation of individuals who would have us believe that by remembering these sacrifices we are only glorifying war. The result is that many in society continue to lose their memory in a wash of misguided social consciousness.
When one speaks to those of Dutch descent, they are forever grateful of the role Canadians played in keeping their land free. It is a sobering experience to realize that these were people who had lived through a fascist occupation and who genuinely saw our Canadian soldiers as the liberators of their country. One elderly dutch man said to me in halting English, "We owe your people a debt that can never be repaid."
The Netherlands is a place that remembers -- that does not allow its sons and daughters to forget the great sacrifices that ensured its people could enjoy freedom. It understands the price that was paid -- and the reason that price HAD to be paid -- because its people lived through it.
We are the inheritors of this legacy and should do ourselves and our forefathers proud by ensuring that we remember their sacrifices with the same pride.
Each Nov 11, we take time to remember those who gave everything to preserve our freedom. We need to help each other understand the sacrifices made and why they were necessary. I believe it is this duty to which John McCrae speaks in this line from his famous poem "In Flanders Fields" -- "To you from failing hands we throw, the torch; be yours to hold it high. . ."
To remember these sacrifices is not to glorify war, but to celebrate peace by ensuring that we prize freedom and remain always ready to draw the line against oppression.