麻豆视频

Making the poppy personal

By Lynne Bell

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鈥淣ever in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.鈥�

听听听听听听听听听听听 -Winston Churchill

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听听听听听听听听听听听 At this year's provincial launch of the Royal Canadian Legion's 2015 poppy campaign, Saskatchewan Lt.-Gov. Vaughn Solomon Schofield urged citizens to wear their poppies in honour of a chosen听 member of Canada's military-saying, 鈥淥ne of the most important things you can do is honour your history and honour your past.鈥�

听听听听听听听听听听听 Just a casual perusal of The Observer's archives makes me believe that this will be a pretty simple task for many people in this area. The roll calls of names on plaques and cenotaphs in communities in this corner of the province contain many, many familiar surnames. Some of these veterans are still with us, while others are now gone.

听听听听听听听听听听听 The lists of casualties and injuries from military conflicts in which Canadians have served and sacrificed is almost too overwhelming to contemplate. In both World Wars, for example, Canada's involvement was much, much greater than our status as a young country with a relatively small population would usually dictate; and because of this, Canada's losses were disproportionately large.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Although the numbers are tragically impressive, they are destined to become history's footnotes without the people-and their stories-behind the statistics.

听听听听听听听听听听听 The person I will wear my poppy for this year didn't die in battle, but he spent five years and an ocean away from his wife and baby daughter, was injured, and most tragically, experienced the loss of two childhood friends-Mel and Earl Beatty of Carlyle- who were killed at the ill-fated raid on Dieppe, France, in August, 1942.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Like most veterans of that era, my Grandpa Ken didn't talk about the war at all to me until near the end of his life. Even now, I feel a little strange referring to any part of his war experience publicly, because I know he spared me and the rest of his family as much as he could from talk of the ugliness of war-especially his personal experience of it.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Our family is lucky enough to have most the letters that he wrote to my grandma during his five years overseas. He certainly spared his young wife any detailed descriptions of blood and battle, too. But when I read them, what is especially evident is what he-and all members of our serving military, past and present-sacrifice on our behalf: sometimes their very lives, and always, some of their precious, irreplaceable time.

听听听听听听听听听听听 My grandpa's letters start in 1939 and end nearly half a decade later. Repeatedly, he tells his wife the most important things she can send him are letters with news of family and friends in Carlyle, along with photographs of herself and their firstborn, my mom. Every year, at Christmas, his letters repeat the refrain: 鈥淪urely, I'll be home next year...鈥�

听听听听听听听听听听听 Early in 1941, he writes: 鈥淪ometimes when I think of possibly being separated for months on end, I feel pretty blue. It's just wasted time for us, kiddo, is it not? But it's something apparently ordained by the fates or whatever one might call it. I often wonder if I will ever get back, but that's one of the good points about not being able to see into the future, because as it is, we can always think that it will be the other fellow that will not return.鈥�

听听听听听听听听听听听 Whatever the era, whatever the conflict, members of our military make innumerable and often, unimaginable sacrifices on our behalf.

听听听听听听听听听听听 For that, we owe them. For that, we must remember them.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Who will you wear your poppy for?

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Thank you to those who serve our country, past and present

By Kelly Running

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听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Remembrance Day is something that we need to embrace as Canadians. It鈥檚 something we need to recognize. It is a way for us to remember those that gave their lives, so we could enjoy the privileges we have in our country. It鈥檚 also a way for us to say thank you to each and every person in the armed forces who are currently serving our country.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 It isn鈥檛 a small task and comes with great pain to the individual serving and to their families and friends. The service men and women leave their families for tours of duty, experience unthinkable acts while deployed, and suffer from both mental and physical ailments, while each one knows they may lay their life down defending Canadians and what Canada stands for.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Having been a history major, I remember studying war. I took a variety of classes, so studied many battles and wars, learning of unimaginable horrors that humans can do. There was one section of a text book that is seared into my mind鈥� it was in a class focused on the Far East and in it there were pictures of piles of massacred dead bodies, of adults and children. They were photos of what is known as the 鈥淩ape of Nanjing,鈥� which took place Dec. 13, 1937, in China.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 It was uncomfortable reading about the massacre and although I haven鈥檛 heard of anything to the same extent in current news regarding wars around the world, the thoughts about what our veterans and our current armed forces see make me shiver. I appreciate everything they鈥檙e doing and have done for our country because it鈥檚 not an easy task.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 My knowledge of war comes from books and from discussions in classes, and although I鈥檝e never seen it firsthand 鈥� the majority of people in Canada are privileged enough they haven鈥檛 seen it firsthand 鈥� I feel as though studying it has given me the ability to at least understand the importance of our military and what they do. I鈥檓 not saying I know how it feels, but rather that I understand that war and being a part of the military is something that can change people. I know that I want them to have the support they need and the thanks they deserve for their efforts.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 I remember discussing in class post-traumatic stress and how, even though it鈥檚 not handled in the best possible way today as it could be, that it was once swept under the rug as 鈥渟hell shock.鈥� People would come home with strange quirks or be completely different than when they left and it would be chalked up to 鈥渟hell shock.鈥�

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 One story that stood out to me was of a man who returned from fighting in World War II. He came home without any physical ailments, all was well, except for when he passed by a window. Every time this man came to a window, he would drop to the floor and crawl past. A few students in my class laughed, thinking it was quite funny, but it wasn鈥檛 funny, not in the least and the majority knew how solemn a moment it was learning about this man.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Can you imagine the terror he must have felt to lead him to do this? For this person a window meant danger. It meant that if you walked by or sat visibly that you would be shot by the enemy. Windows, something we don鈥檛 give a second thought to in Canada except for to enjoy the view out of, we purposefully stop and look out of them.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 I don鈥檛 claim to know what it is like for soldiers, I鈥檝e only seen pictures and read about war, but I do know they deserve to be thanked and appreciated for everything they do for us. That Remembrance Day is something extremely important to recognize and to participate in.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 I may not necessarily agree with all of the conflicts we have entered into or will enter into, but that doesn鈥檛 mean I don鈥檛 appreciate everything our service men and women do for us. However, I鈥檝e never experienced war firsthand, but I thank those that have and those that do; because of them the closest I have to get to war is through reading about and discussing it. It鈥檚 why I wear a poppy for Remembrance Day and why I鈥檓 a member of the Canadian Legion.