It is impossible for anyone to understand war unless they lived through it.
We are fed images on the TV and Internet in an attempt to give us some form of understanding, but they do nothing more than give us a warped sense of what is taking place in foreign lands.
After awhile, some people become completely desensitized to these images, forgetting the people in them are even real.
Other people become so disgusted by what they see, they wage their own war against the government in an attempt to bring an end to it once and for all.
Then there are the others who view each image and read each story with great intensity and concern. These are the people who are waiting for loved ones to come home.
Again, it is impossible for anyone to understand the emotions family and friends live through as they wait for their loved one(s) to come home.
I could never imagine the anxiety a mother must feel as she watches her son or daughter leave for a far off land.
Or the despair a wife must feel as she watches the love of her life get on the plane destined to only God knows where.
Or the confusion a young child must feel as she watches her Daddy walk away in tears.
The pain would be unreal.
For someone who has no ties to anyone who has ever been in combat, it's even more difficult to begin to understand why these brave men and women put their lives at risk for something most Canadians will never truly understand.
But despite this obvious lack of understanding, it's important to always support our troops. We have to remember they have families and friends who miss them dearly and worry every day they are gone.
When a good friend of my significant other and myself went off to Afghanistan last year, I remember cringing the first few times I read media reports of another soldier being killed. Thankfully none of them were him, but it sure made me think about the people who read those reports and knew those soldiers.
It also made me wonder how some people could be so insensitive with some of the comments they posted on these stories on the Internet. A brave man or woman had been killed and people should have been sending their condolences, not passing judgement.
But I think overall, even if some Canadians are not supportive of the war, they are supportive of the troops. And that is the main thing. They need our support. They do a lot of things most of us could never stomach.
Myself, I couldn't even stomach seeing people living in horrible conditions, never mind the idea that I may have to shoot someone who was trying to kill me.
Unfortunately it seems as though war is still a necessary evil in our world, and until the day comes where war can end once and for all, we need to show our support for those who have fought and those who continue to fight.
Remembrance Day is only one day of the year, and while it serves an important purpose by honouring the fallen and educating younger generations, we should expand beyond the boundaries of one day to show our respect support every day.
