When the Armistice ending the First World War was signed at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, it was believed by some that this conflict was the "war to end all wars".
The truth was far different, however; the Spanish Civil War kept tempers boiling through the 1930s, along with the rise of Nazi party in Germany - and then in 1939 the world was plunged again into a world-wide conflagration that again consumed the resources and a generation of young men and women for six years before it finally ended in 1945.
As the 20th century marched on, there were many, many more conflicts, taking our best and brightest, including in Korea, Viet Nam and Cambodia, in the former Yugoslavia, in Africa, in Kuwait and other troubled spots in the Middle East
The list just goes on and on, and today it continues in such countries as Somalia, Ethiopia, Afghanistan; will it ever end?
Human nature being what it is, the answer would seemingly be a resounding "No". Thus, when an occasion like Remembrance Day comes around on the anniversary of the Great War, sometimes the question is asked, "is it worth the effort to remember?"
For many reasons, the answer has to be "yes", and not least of which is to answer the stubborn tendencies of human nature towards conflict. We need to promote peaceful living between peoples, and as new generations grow up and learn their history, the need to remember is more crucial than ever.
The axiom that "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it" hangs over every generation like the fabled sword of Damocles - so when Nov. 11th comes around, we need to take the time and remember the sacrifices that were made on our behalf by our preceding generations.
In addition to that, we ought to be taking time to acknowledge the efforts of our Canadian Armed Forces today in keeping the peace in various hotspots, like Afghanistan and Libya. We need not bow to the tyranny of fatalism and throw up our hands to say, "oh well, wars are going to happen anyway."
Let us be a generation who is truly thankful for our freedoms, for which these sacrifices were made, and also a generation who does not forget those who went before, so that the next generation doesn't need to go out and re-fight the old battles all over again. - Greg Nikkel
