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At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month we pause for a moment’s silence to remember those who have fallen in service to their country. The ultimate sacrifice in order that others may live free.
My father served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He never made it overseas because he was a firefighter stationed at an airfield in Calgary, Alberta, where pilots trained. He told his family all about his training to be a firefighter. He had to sit in a fire-proof suit in the middle of a fire. He had to do all the training a civilian firefighter would need with the added knowledge of aircraft fires. He told us many tragic stories about getting the call to head out to one of the runways when there was a crash. He may not have served on a foreign battlefield, but his service to his country was not diminished by that fact.
My mother served the war effort in her own way. She worked on the home front making ammunition. She told us stories about being picked up in a bus that had its windows completely blacked out so the workers had no idea what factory site they were being taken to. There was a lot of anxiety about the possibility of sabotage even here at home.
Some years back when my children were in the early grades of school, I was asked by the Principal to be one of the Remembrance Day speakers. I recounted some of the experiences my parents shared with us about their service to our country.
I wear my poppy proudly every year at this time and continue to wear it for days after November 11th.
I was inspired by the fact that all the players on my son’s “AA” Major PeeWee rep hockey team wore poppies all week leading up to Remembrance Day. They wore them proudly on their team jackets to practices and games. My son was in goal last night for a home game. On the way to our arena, he whispered to me that he was going to win the game in memory of his grandparents. I told him it was a wonderful tribute.
I watched him in goal last night as he played his heart out. He wasn’t challenged often but when he was he was square to the puck in the right position. He only let one slip by in the second period. It was a well-earned goal by the other side. He kept his team-mates in the game as they scored a total of four in three periods of play. They won their game and I made sure I was by the bench when the team came off the ice so that I could congratulate him on his win. I also told him that I felt a presence in the arena while he was on the ice battling hard. My father never lived to see him play let alone know that I would even have a son. He died just a few days before my daughter was born. She is two years older than her brother. My mother got a chance to see him play in House League when he first started. She was a regular fixture at the games and cheered loudly. She passed away before he was picked to play rep. Last night I was sure I felt something of their presence close by. Both would have enjoyed his play and would have appreciated his effort to honor their memory on Remembrance Day.
”To you from failing hands we throw / The torch: be yours to hold it high!” The words of John McCrae from the 3rd stanza of “In Flanders Fields,” written in 1915.
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Don Jackson
Hi Don,
- NancyI just wanted you to know that you actually misquoted the line from Casablanca on your show tonight; as it’s one of my all-time favourite movies, yes, I am sure of it. You said that Bogey (as Richard Blaine) says, “Play it again, Sam”; he actually NEVER says that, he says, “If she can stand it, I can! Play it, Sam.” I know, it’s not all that important, but it is a common misquote that drives me crazy!
Don’t worry, I won’t hold it against ya