Birch Avenue in 100 Mile House will be lined with folks who will watch with pride as the Remembrance Day Parade marches by at 10:30 a.m. on Monday (Nov. 11).
Every year, 100 Mile House and area residents turn out to honour the men and women who put their lives on the line to fight for democracy and the Canadian way of life in the First World War, the Second World, the Korean War.
Some of the people we honour on Remembrance Day are those who made the supreme sacrifice and lost their lives on foreign soil in the fight for democracy and other freedoms we enjoy today.
We will remember them always.
Other members of the Armed Forces came home from the great wars – many carried physical wounds – and most brought home the mental scars from the horrors of war that stay with them until the day they leave this world.
We honour them not only for their sacrifices, but also for their strength to come home to raise the next generation of Canadians.
Many of those who fought in the Second World War and the Korean War have either joined their loved ones and comrades who went before them, or are in the autumn of their lives and look forward to those tender reunions.
We honour them during the days that lead up to Remembrance Day. We salute their spirit and marvel at the strength and pride in their eyes as they gaze around the 100 Mile Community Hall, which will be packed to the rafters again this year.
Then, they will make eye contact with their fellow veterans and nod with approval at the turnout.
Finally, they will turn their attention to their spouses and smile about the strength they have provided each other since coming home from war to build a life together for their children and children’s children’s children.
We can only wonder where the Veterans’ memories take them when we all stand in silence at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month to remember The Fallen.
We can never forget them because of what they have done for us when we’re safe in our comfortable beds – far from the shelling, the mud and blood, and the mutilation and death that are the horrors of war.
There is a new waive of Veterans in Canada now – those who have returned from peacekeeping missions.
They, too, have seen the horrors of a technologically advanced war where they were surrounded by people, and it was hard to tell who were friends and foes.
They, too, have lost comrades, suffered physical and psychological wounds.
They, too, deserve to be honoured and helped to find work and to be supported in their post-military careers.
