You know, some of you guys need to take a step back and think a bit.
In my humble opinion, Remembrance Day is a day for reflection, thought, and consideration. It is a day that I think of past wars and those who fell, or were maimed, or suffered.
I think of Canada as THEE Greatest Nation on Earth. We enjoy rights, freedoms, liberty, the rule of law, a sense of fair play, of right and wrong that few other countries in the world have. I don't take it for granted. We Canadians have worked hard to build this country for what it is. We don't feel the need for a massive miltary and we would rather spend our money building schools and hospitals for our people than building nuclear weapons. I respect our military, its capabilities and those who serve in it, but our military does not define us, it is part of what we are, but it is not what we are. Each Remembrance Day, I don't stand there and thump my chest as a member of the "winning side" as so many people seem to do. I don't get all tough and I don't see the need to glorify war.
Each Remembrance Day, I think of ALL the victims of war. Whether they were German, Italian, Japanese, North Korean, French, American, British, Australian, or Canadian it hurt every bit as much when they got shot, or blown up, or bayoneted, or horribly injured. They were all victims of a handful of mad-men. That is the real human tragedy here. That somehow a handful of men can somehow manipulate people to burn the world down never ceases to amaze me. While it is not debatable that these mad-men needed to be stopped, the fact of the matter is that your average German kid did not want to kill your average Canadian kid. I refuse to believe that. Those young men from all sides were put in an impossible situation and made to do ghastly things that went against the very core of how they were raised. Not too many people the world over raise their children to murder other people. Nope, every Remembrance Day, I pay my respects to those in our military who served and fought and died to preserve life and freedom, but I also think a bit about the other guys too. Cause at the end of the day, they were human beings as well. They didn't deserve what they got. None of them. Remembrance Day is not a day reserved to praise the victors, but a day to think about the victims of war all over the world. The real tragedy is that it seems we as a species just don't seem to learn and there are just as many mad-men today forcing kids today to do things that those kids typically don't really want to do.
Here's a great scene from a great movie and it reaffirms my faith in humanity just a bit because it was based on a true story. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.
In my humble opinion, Remembrance Day is a day for reflection, thought, and consideration. It is a day that I think of past wars and those who fell, or were maimed, or suffered.
I think of Canada as THEE Greatest Nation on Earth. We enjoy rights, freedoms, liberty, the rule of law, a sense of fair play, of right and wrong that few other countries in the world have. I don't take it for granted. We Canadians have worked hard to build this country for what it is. We don't feel the need for a massive miltary and we would rather spend our money building schools and hospitals for our people than building nuclear weapons. I respect our military, its capabilities and those who serve in it, but our military does not define us, it is part of what we are, but it is not what we are. Each Remembrance Day, I don't stand there and thump my chest as a member of the "winning side" as so many people seem to do. I don't get all tough and I don't see the need to glorify war.
Each Remembrance Day, I think of ALL the victims of war. Whether they were German, Italian, Japanese, North Korean, French, American, British, Australian, or Canadian it hurt every bit as much when they got shot, or blown up, or bayoneted, or horribly injured. They were all victims of a handful of mad-men. That is the real human tragedy here. That somehow a handful of men can somehow manipulate people to burn the world down never ceases to amaze me. While it is not debatable that these mad-men needed to be stopped, the fact of the matter is that your average German kid did not want to kill your average Canadian kid. I refuse to believe that. Those young men from all sides were put in an impossible situation and made to do ghastly things that went against the very core of how they were raised. Not too many people the world over raise their children to murder other people. Nope, every Remembrance Day, I pay my respects to those in our military who served and fought and died to preserve life and freedom, but I also think a bit about the other guys too. Cause at the end of the day, they were human beings as well. They didn't deserve what they got. None of them. Remembrance Day is not a day reserved to praise the victors, but a day to think about the victims of war all over the world. The real tragedy is that it seems we as a species just don't seem to learn and there are just as many mad-men today forcing kids today to do things that those kids typically don't really want to do.
Here's a great scene from a great movie and it reaffirms my faith in humanity just a bit because it was based on a true story. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.
