The number of people wearing poppies has increased in the past few weeks, meaning Remembrance Day is near, this Friday to be exact.
As the years go by the number of veterans from the first two world wars dwindles and will continue to do so but that doesn’t mean the day is any less important – sacrifices were still made and it is good to keep that in mind, no matter how long ago the wars were.
But while veterans from the first two wars are revered, at least from our perspective, there doesn’t seem to be enough respect paid to contemporary military service personnel.
Some say Canada’s role in recent military campaigns has tarnished its image as a peacekeeper and some wonder if the Canadian military should have taken part in campaigns in places such as Afghanistan in the first place and that could be one of the reasons for this.
There were villains like Adolf Hitler in the Second World War and it seemed right to go to war against such evil while there are some people that say that the players in the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – George W. Bush and Dick Cheney for example – are the evil ones and thus the country’s involvement in the current campaigns are questioned.
Whether your views are for or against recent campaigns, military of any era should be given respect this coming Friday.
Regardless of the motivations of the country’s involvement, it takes courage to go into active combat for Canada and a number of people have been severely injured or died and they deserve to be honoured or have their memories honoured, whether it is a peacekeeping assignment in Rwanda in the past or fighting the Taliban in Kandahar, Afghanistan more recently.
In the case of the deceased, respect the dead as they say.
People may question the government’s decision to move from its former stance to its current but it isn’t fair to blame the Armed Forces for that as they are just following orders.
At 11 a.m. this Friday pause for a moment of silence for those who not only fought against the Nazis but those who battled the Taliban as well.
–Grand Forks Gazette