Every year at this time thoughts turn to Remembrance Day.
For a newspaper the question becomes whether we should each year turn this space over to a day which occurs annually?
After all we are all by now aware Nov. 11 is the day we in Canada collectively pause to remember the contribution members of this country's Armed Forces have made over the decades.
Good men and women have made the ultimate sacrifice of their lives through four wars and countless peace keeping missions for more than a century now.
Countless others have donned the uniform and served this country well with honour and distinction.
And that is why it becomes important for each of us to do our part in remembering those contributions.
In the case of a newspaper, it is part of our responsibility to publish editorials which have a local connection, and which get our readers thinking about the topic chosen each week.
Few things we could write about are any more important than having readers thinking at what the Armed Forces do for us.
The recent deaths of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent have certainly focused interest in the Armed forces.
Cirillo, a reservist, was fatally shot in late October while standing guard at the National War Memorial in Ottawa and, Vincent was run down by a man driving a car in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
It is certainly likely they will be at the forefront of many people's minds come Nov.11.
But hundreds of Canadian soldiers have died in service for Canada. It is the danger side of their positions, and why we owe them so much.
They died in Europe to stop the progress of German pursuits to rule the world - twice.
They died in Korea against Communist expansion.
They died in Afghanistan bringing stability to that nation.
They have died keeping the peace in Cyprus, and wherever else the government deemed to send them.
And the rest of us have been safely at home relying on our soldiers to do their job to protect the rights and freedoms we have come to simply expect in Canada.
That is why we need to pause and remember each Nov. 11.
In Yorkton that means getting up next Tuesday morning rather than sleeping in because it's a day off from work, and gathering with others from our community to collectively pay our respects to our soldiers at the annual Remembrance Day service at the Nexera Flexihall at 11 a.m.
