I keep hearing it’s held to honour those who fell in battle to protect our democracy, our way of life. And then I hear of the extensive collateral damage, the loss of life, especially women and children. And I also continue to hear this remembering is to provide us with reason not to have to experience the destruction and loss again. But our memory fails us time and again, war and battle reoccur in spite of our hearing the trumpet horn the Last Post, and in the presence of the recitation of McCrae’s poppy poem, in spite of how many veterans recount their wartime experiences, in spite of how many assemblies are held, how many pulpits and politicians condemn war and all its horror, with their condescending emphases on “It’s not us, it’s them!”
Whatever happened to forgiveness and diplomacy? Why is it that corporate monies always seem to be involved with causes? Why is Canada contributing to the ruckus in the already wartorn Iraq?
WE were once known world-wide as PEACEMAKERS, a far more rewarding image than the one Mr. Harper provides as leader of his “Party of one.”* It seems to me this holiday should be renamed Lester B. Pearson Day and the spirit of his peacekeeping idea be dwelled upon in history class, and celebrated each year around the world.
Why? To defuse the notion that War Is a Force that gives us meaning!* What’s behind the celebration of November 11? And the thereafter appalling loss of memory in its connection?
The devastation continues with few remarks that this is so.
*Party of One, Penguin Canada, Michael Harris
*War is a force that gives us Meaning. Random House N.Y. Chris Hedges
