Lest we forget

Today in Canada we remember those who gave their lives so that we and others could be free.  Sadly, there are fewer and fewer each year who are here to remind us of the sacrifices of so many brave Canadians in the first half of the twentieth century.  The responsibility of keeping these memories alive will fall to our generation so that we may never forget our history – what was and what could have been.

Years ago, when I was a 16-year-old high school student on exchange to France, I went to my host family’s grandfather’s 80th birthday party.  He immediately introduced himself and told me how pleased he was to have a Canadian at the celebration.  He then told me why Canadians are so near and dear to him.

During the second world war the region of Franche-Comte in Easter France was heavily occupied by the Germans.  The French in this area lived under the constant surveillance of the soldiers and were subject to their every whim.  The people were not so much living as enduring.

Then the war took a turn.  The Germans began to lose ground, and when Franche-Comte was liberated, it was the Canadians who came in and took the territory back for the French.  Mon grandpere francais relayed his memories of our soldiers riding in to his village and tears sprang to his eyes.  He was amazed that these people would travel around the world and fight to bring freedom and independence back to a country that wasn’t even their own.  Since that day Canadians have held a place in his heart.

Every year on Remembrance Day we have fewer people to share these memories.  It falls to us to make sure that they won’t be lost forever so that we may never have to make these memories for ourselves.  Lest we forget.