The brisk cool winds of November, often accompanied by a snowstorm, are conditions we cringe, shiver and complain about when we trudge to put winter coats and boots on and make our way to Remembrance Day services. Or visit loved ones in cemeteries.
Silently, we contemplate not going: the easy thing to do.
But the people we are going to pay our respects to did not take the most convenient way out.
It’s embarrassing, really, to gripe over familiar weather conditions, which significantly fails in comparison to running for your life, being shot at and other things the bloodied theatre of war, so unmerciless, presents.
It is the least we can do.
Can we do more?
I think the resounding answer is yes.
Saturday’s annual Remembrance Day service was perhaps the most subtle way of challenging Canadians, especially on national television networks, to do more.
The images of two current wars — and the unsettling thought more countries are contemplating engaging themselves in most lethal ways — bring this weekend’s observances closer to home.
This is not the time, nor the place, to use such a profound sacred event as Nov. 11 as a political platform.
I solemnly wish this was not the case.
But what in the world was the federal government thinking when they announced cutting the defence budget by $1 billion?
And, just a few months before November?
It became a television conversation, as it rightly should be, during the broadcasts of the ceremonies from Ottawa.
Yet, it took away airtime from hearing stories from our veterans … stories we need to hear.
A graphic frequently crawled across the TV screen that is most daunting: the average age of Canadians who served in the Second World War is 97.
First, we need to personally thank the Canadian veterans in our networks.
Then, we need to make concerted efforts to get their stories on record so our understanding becomes even more clear.
And then we need to collect photographs, medals and other memorabilia to preserve them as Canadian artifacts.
We need to do it.
Now.
We need to support organizations such as No Stone Left Alone, which thoughtfully teaches children about Canadian fallen soldiers by having students place poppies on veterans’ headstones.
More than 500,000 poppies have been placed in NSLA’s 13-year history.
Such a physical educational exercise morphs into an emotionally educated sign of genuine respect.
I honestly think we need to extend our respect and admiration beyond the early afternoon hours of November 11 and turn it into a perennial responsibility for us all.
Perhaps a thought is not to reinvent the wheel by forming new programs and initiatives.
Rather, we can achieve more by lending our expertise and skills to existing programs — No Stone Left Alone, the Poppy Fund, the Royal Canadian Legion, War Amps of Canada, The Canadian Hero Fund and others.
Is it too much to ask?
I’d argue nothing is too much to ask.
The almost half a million Canadian veterans patriotically accepted the challenge.
Why can’t we?
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