Remembering Why We Never Forget
Lest we forget. What does that mean, really?
It means let’s remember, so we don’t forget.
image on Flickr by badbwoy4lyfMy thoughts on Remembrance Day have wavered in the past. I thought of it as a celebration of military, and a lauding of heroes who went to a foreign shore to kill. But that’s not what Remembrance Day is about. Sure, it may be what Veteran’s Day is about, but it’s not what Remembrance Day is about.
I have CNN on in the control room this morning, and their coverage is centered around enormous aircraft carriers loaded with ammunition, fighters and the gears of war. Canadian ceremonies will be solemn, quiet and centered around cenotaphs in city squares. While the Americans seem to say “we’ll get ‘em next time too!” Canada looks at this day as a stain on our history, something that needs atonement. Sure, we’re proud, but we’re also embarassed.
This past spring, Jennifer, Z and I went and visited Juno Beach along the Normandy coast of France. It’s a centre dedicated to the Canadian effort on D-Day in World War I.
I’m not a war guy, I don’t stay up late watching CGI recreations of WW2 naval battles on History Channel. I couldnt tell you the difference between guns and planes and battalions and such. I just know I hate war. I think it’s stupid, it’s ignorant and pointless.
But go to Juno Beach, and you get an idea of why the boys came here. The depression was knocking the stink out of the Canadian economy. Incomes had dropped by more than 50%, unemployment had doubled.
When Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, Canada declared war on Germany within months and thousands of Canadians saw a way out of the hell at home, by going to a hell overseas with the chance to be a hero.
The beach is tiny. Maybe 20 yards before the first row of German bunkers. Those were backed by tunnels, trenches and barbed wire. The troop transports would land, the doors would drop open and the boys had orders to “run like a bat out of hell and shoot anything that moved.”
The most impressive part of the centre, is the sculpture outside. It has waves of motion to remind you of the sea, all of the soldiers are linked together, supporting each other, each leaning into the action in eager defense and aggression.
One small section features a wall with the scrolling names of the more than 15 000 who lost their lives. It takes more than 12 hours to scroll through each and every one of them.
My grandfather was a member of the merchant marines in WWII, running alongside commerce vessels between Halifax and New York. He has told me stories of seeing German U Boats in the Atlantic and of being in Halifax Harbour when the war ended.
So while I am disappointed by the fact nation’s even have armies, I get what Remembrance Day is about. This year I will watch the ceremonies and I will remember, so I never forget.
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