Posted on 11/10/2007 4:11:00 AM PST by Clive
During most of the half-century that followed the Korean War, Remembrance Day felt like a history class -- an occasion to summon up the sacrifices made by our military during the First and Second World Wars and the Korean conflict, to teach the next generation the meaning of Vimy Ridge, Amiens, Passchendaele and Ypres, Dieppe and Normandy.
Since 9/11, however, Remembrance Day isn't just about the past. Among the men and women whose sacrifices we will honour on Sunday are those risking their lives in the ongoing Afghanistan campaign. No history lessons are needed here: Our successes and tragedies in central Asia are the stuff of everyday news headlines.
But how many Canadians are taking the time to reflect on those news stories? Afghanistan is a far-off place full of poverty, odd traditions and hard-to-pronounce towns. There is a temptation among many to dismiss it as an irrelevant, alien landscape; to mourn the loss of Canadians killed there, but otherwise ignore the important work they are doing.
Such attitudes must be corrected, and Remembrance Day is a good time to do so. As 9/11 widow Maureen Basnicki reminds us on the pages that follow, the roots of the Sept. 11 attacks can be traced to Afghanistan's dusty outback. In a globalized age in which terrorists can send propaganda, money and marching orders around the world in a second, the fate of every nation is tethered to the fate of every other. Battles won in Kandahar and Khost can save lives in Toronto and New York.
But Canada's goal on the world stage is about more than just security. And so our mission in Afghanistan is about more than defeating terrorists. Our fighting men and women are giving the country a chance to develop into a real democracy, a place where children can go to school and women can go to work without fear of being killed by extremists. Tuesday's suicide attack in northern Afghanistan-- in which dozens of schoolchildren and five teachers were killed for the crime of visiting a sugar factory-- demonstrate both the barbarism of the enemy we face, and the great humanitarian stakes in the battle against him.
Canadians should be proud that their military is engaged in this battle. During the 20th century, Canada became known as a nation willing to pay the price for freedom. Our commitment to Afghanistan shows this noble quality is still with us.
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The other night I was at a Habs game against the Bruins. A group of the usual rowdy (and great) Bruins fans started chanting “USA, USA” at a group of us Candiens fans. All of a sudden a guy in fatigues got up and shouted “Hey, they’re fighting with us in Afganistan!” You could’ve heard a pin drop!
Your post puts me in mind of my Uncle Edgar who was a Canadian cavalry officer in WWI. He was a great hero to me when I was a boy. He still is actually, though he has been dead many years. His stories were wonderful stuff for a young boy, full of adventure and what I then took for heroism. As I look back now and remember the tone of his voice and the look on his face as he told those stories, I realize that he saw little if anything glorious in the slaughter he had witnessed; just an awful job that had to be done, which makes him all the more a hero.
God Bless those young Canadians out on the ramparts of freedom!
Great post K.
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