Take time to remember them

Canadians were surprised to learn that a week ago that another Canadian soldier, Master Corporal Byron Greff had been killed in Afghanistan. Canadian soldiers were supposed to be removed from the fighting war of that country. That was what was thought when our nation withdrew from its combat mission.
And with surprise we learned of the death of Sgt Janick Gilbert who died after parachuting with two other search technicians into the cold icy Arctic Waters to rescue two lost Inuit hunters from Igloolik. Soldiers should not perish doing rescue work in Canada.
Wars and Peace Keeping are tricky affairs for any nation that participates in them. We all wish that soldiers would not die or be hurt. But we know that we can’t prevent those things from happening.
While it is a tragedy that sixteen NATO soldiers died in that suicide bombing, as many innocent children and adults also perished in the explosion simply because they had been in that place at that time.
Friday we will gather at the Cenotaph again. The numbers of living young men who left our community to fight in Europe and the Far East during World War II dwindle and grow fewer each year. During the Korean War, Canada provided the third largest contingent of troops (26,791) to the war. There number of returning veterans too are declining rapidly.
After the Korean truce was signed, thirty-three Canadians were killed during the Peace Keeping phase that Canada participated in up to 1955.
About 30,000 Canadians volunteered to fight in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.
Over the decades Canada has participated in over 50 United Nations and NATO actions around the world. Many are still ongoing today. And whether it was Korea, or Cypress, Bosnia or Yugoslavia, Canadians have suffered deaths.
Peacekeeping and training can be as dangerous as war in many countries. Soldiers and civilians working for the Canadian government have died or have been permanently disabled. So too have Canadian military personnel providing rescue services to Canadians in our country.
War and Peace Keeping have left their scars on many Canadian veterans. Today many who participated in the first Gulf War complain of what is known as the Gulf War Syndrome. Many returning from Bosnia and today from Afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
General Romeo Dallaire who lead the United Nations peace keepers in Rwanda experienced the death of 14 UN soldiers and the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Tutsi and Hutu people, suffered greatly for his work in peace keeping. War and peace keeping leaves long lasting scars.
Young people from the district are already on their second or third tour of duty into Afghanistan. Canadian troops realize that in training the Afghanis to protect their own country, they are risking their lives. And the government has committed our troops and civilians in Afghanistan to this role through March 2014. It is no small measure of sacrifice that we ask of our armed forces.
On Friday, take time to join with family and comrades the ceremony at the cenotaph. We do it to remember those who have died to make our country and world a safer place. We do it to keep fresh in our minds the men and women soldiers who today put themselves at risk trying to improve the lives of others in Canada and around the world.

–Jim Cumming,
Publisher