I Cried Today

Image via Wikipedia

By Jim Swettenham

(c) November 11, 2009

I cried today…

Today was Remembrance Day here in Canada and Veterans’ Day in the United States as we commemorated the 91st anniversary of the signing of the Armistice to end the war to end all wars…World War I.

Guns were silenced and laid down at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918 as the Axis nations surrendered the the Allied forces bringing peace to war-ravaged and war-torn Europe. Thousands of young men, in the prime of their life, enlisted to roll back the scourge that was sweeping Europe between 1914 and 1918.

Many young men even lied about their age in an effort to enlist for the privilege and honour of serving King and Country…there is one Canadian World War I veteran left as I write this and he is living in the United States. The Canadian government has already decided that this gentleman will be accorded a full state funeral when he leaves this life to soldier on in the next.

World War I was described as the “war to end all wars”, but unfortunately a few years later in 1939 Europe once again found itself at war as a result of theWorld War II aggression of the Hilter-led Nazi movement in Germany and the massive devastation that engulfed much of the inhabited world continued until 1945.

World War II was followed by the Korean Conflict and that was followed by the Vietnam War and that was followed by the…and that was followed by the…and that was followed by then…until we come to Afghanistan.

I cried today…

I couldn’t help but think about the massive waste of humanity…the massive waste of humanity which is evidenced by the number of bodybags and flag-draped coffins that carry the remains of dead soldiers home from the Afghan/Pakistani region…home to wherever these soldiers are from…Canada, the United States or nations from throughout Europe.

I creid today…

I couldn’t help but think of the aging corps of earlier international conflicts…It was startling when I heard that Canadian World War II veterans…many of then in their late 80s and early-mid 90s are passing away, on average, at the rate of 77 per week…another figure mentioned as they are now dying at a rate of about 400 per month…regardless of the most accurate number the corps of veterans is rapidly being depleted.

I cried today…

I couldn’t help but think that all the blood that has been shed on battlefields and all the young lives of soldiers and the lives of civilians may very well have been in vain, because we take our freedoms and privileges forgranted without think that our freedoms are not free…they come at an exacting price. But are we grateful? Do we pause daily to give thanks for the price that was paid to buy the freedoms and priveleges that we enjoy today? We set aside one day a year when we pause to remember that “They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. In the morning we will remember them.”

I cried today…

I couldn’t help but think about the chairs around breakfast tables that are now vacant because someone on foreign soil decided that someone didn’t deserve to see their children grow.

I cried today…

I couldn’t help but think of the many youngsters who will grow up without ever knowing the loving touch and kind words of a Father or Mother.

I cried today…

I couldn’t help but think about the slogans and ribbons proclaiming “Support our troops”.

I cried today…

Because I support our troops…at home where they belong.

Sorry, but I cried today…