Remembrance Day is a day of so many strong emotions. So many of the memory pictures are in conflict. There seems to be no thread to sew them into a whole. I would not like to sleep under a patchwork quilt of such diverse pieces.
- My first memory of war is going to play at a small friend's house. Her father had lost his legs in the war. I was so sorry they were not able to find them.
- My family were not the military sort, whatever that is, but two of of my uncles, both gentle human beings, volunteered for the armed forces, during WW11. One was in the infantry that freed Italy. I had trouble reading The English Patient. The other was an air force man who rose quickly to the top ranks. The first never mentioned one word of his experiences, The second uncle only told amusing stories that were part of military life.
- As I sort through the boxes and boxes of old photographs in the attic, I discover so many portraits of young men in uniform. I knew these men as older men, I had no idea that they had served.
- One of my father's cousins was a pacifist. He served as a medic in the Red Cross, driving charcoal fueled medical equipment across China.
- Some of the Boys who went oversees were little more than children.
- A relative married a RAF pilot from Newfoundland. He was lost over water in the Battle of Britain. He never got to see his little son who was born in Toronto, after his death.
- My mother, born in 1907, grew up during the First World War. As a small child, she was taken to a veterans hospital to recite to the young men brought home barely alive. She told the story of a young man, who had lost both his arms and legs, sitting upright in a wicker basket suspended from the ceiling, to listen to her recitation.
- Our school classes were taken to this same hospital to sing Christmas songs in the 1950's. It is probable some of the very old men, had listened to my mum so many years before,
-My children's paediatrician, as a young doctor, was with the Canadian troops that liberated one of the death camps. He was jewish. I often wonder about all the crosses.
- A neighbour was married when she was eighteen, Her husband was shipped out several weeks later. There was daily correspondence, but she says it was so complicated welcoming home a man five years later who had left not much more than a boy.
-I live fairly close to an air force base. It is common to see men and women in uniform. It gives a deeper appreciation for what our nation asks of these citizens.
- Everyone loves a parade.
- It surprises me how many women of my mother's acquaintance were WACS and WAVES There are also many who worked in munition plants and other factories
- At the local Roxy, the black and white war newsreels still played between the features, in the 1950's.
- There is something troubling about the deaths of those who were conscripted.
- I am proudest when our armed forces are really fighting for peace and the good of humanity.
- The honour in which the native members of the armed forces and veterans are held at Pow Wows is moving.
- I hope the Big Boys (and Girls) in government are not just trying to impress themselves and others with their big toys.
- The most moving part of the Remembrance Day Ceremony, for me, is watching the everyday people taking off their poppies and putting them on the tomb of the unknown soldier.
- I wish wisdom upon those who are making decisions that are so central to so many lives.
- Were those who chose not to serve cowards or honourable people who chose to differ.
-The Armed forces are made up of heavy equipment operators, cartoonists, clergy, truck drivers, dietitians, photographers, cooks, artists, cleaners, communication experts, crazies, musicians, strategists, combat troops, airplane technicians, pilots, doctors, construction workers, architects, plumbers, psychologists, public speakers, recreation specialists, accountants ........................................... . They all have the same colour blood.
- I wear a poppy with respect and with the sadness that all the loss may not have been or may not be necessary.
