I had the pleasure of attending the Decoration Day at the Veterans’ Section of the Humboldt Public Cemetery on Sunday (See page 2 in this weeks Journal) and it was nice to see the support the veterans who have passed away received.
While I really appreciated seeing the support for the veterans who have passed away, the problem was that most of the people who were there were much older than I would have liked to have seen.
It is extremely important that we pay our respects to not only the veterans that have passed away since their service but also those who lost their life while in service, and those who are currently serving or who served and are still living.
Sacrificing your life for your country is a very noble thing to do. I have often had conversations with my friends about the military and the recurring theme I keep coming back to is no way could I be in the military.
While I love my country I am not mentally strong enough to go through what those who are in the military go through.
As a result it is mine and everybody else’s responsibility to pay their respects to those who do.
In Ontario Remembrance Day used to be a day off of school, before I became old enough to go to school they stopped doing that.
Why? Because when people used to stop kids during the day and ask them why they were not in school they would simply reply they did not know and would carry on their way.
This is sad. I started school 20 years ago and we were already getting to a point where some kids younger than me either did not understand the importance of Remembrance Day or did not care.
Today there are zero Canadian World War I veterans left alive in Canada and only 75,900 Second World War veterans left who have an average age of 91 years old and only 9,100 Korean War veterans left with an average age of 83 according to Veterans Affairs Canada.
Soon there will be no veterans left from any of these wars. It is up to the young people of the country to continue to pay their respects and to continue to tell the stories that are passed down from the veterans themselves.
If the young generations do not do this it will not be long before those stories and those memories are forgotten forever.
The last thing we should do for people who sacrificed their lives and joined the Canadian Military is forget about them. They paid the ultimate sacrifice for us and it is our responsibility to make sure they are remembered.
So kids out there, the next time you have the chance to attend Decoration Day or Remembrance Day or to hear about old war time stories from family, friends, or veterans themselves, take it
It might be the last opportunity you get before it is forgotten forever and that is the last thing that should happen.
