A Day to Remember
Remembrance Day in Canada is a day to remember those who’ve fallen in service to our country. We also remember those who’ve sacrificed the lives they knew and returned from battle, weary and forever scarred.
In Canada, we wear a poppy in honour of those who served.
Read the amazing poem Canadian soldier, poet and doctor, Dr. John McCrae, wrote on the battlefield. In Flanders Fields
I had three uncles, Bill, George, and John Klewchuk, who served in WWII. One was in the air force, stationed in Northern Ireland and the other two were in the army and did battle in Italy. They returned home different men. George had nightmares every night for the rest of his life.
When Bill reached his senior years, my husband and I had the pleasure of escorting him to the Royal Canadian Legion branch in his neighbourhood. He wore his medals with pride. There, he could have a few beers with other guys who understood what he’d gone through.
A Poem of Remembrance
I read the following in Maclean’s magazine Nov. 23, 2009.
“On a peaceful mission in an Afghan village, Captain Trevor Greene was sitting in a patch of shade with a circle of elders, his helmet off, when a teenager snuck up behind him, and buried an axe into his head, splitting his skull and his brain almost in half. “
I also learned that his wife and the medical staff in a Nanaimo hospital were helping him put his body together again. I was so moved by what Captain Greene went through, I was compelled to write the following poem.
A Day to Remember
I turn on the tube and watch a Remembrance ceremony, then hear a soldier talk of letting go the hate that came with battle’s harm. In halting words he shares the time he sat on sand in a circle of men, a few from his company and some from the so-called foe. He sat there listening, trying to make sense of a fight with no end, ‘til a man with an axe struck him hard on the back of his head. No Call of Duty game here, no quick recovery, yet his faith in peace stayed, despite an enemy’s blow.
Freedom is not Free. We owe so much to the brave men and women who are willing to sacrifice their lives for peace in their country. I am forever grateful.
Comments are always welcomed.
Good stories about your relatives. May we come together on this day (even in the U.S!) to remember those who served to protect our countries and maintain our freedom.
Yes, Jo. May we come together. When Robert and I visited Washington D.C., we visited the National Mall and its very moving Vietnam and Korean War memorials. Shed a few tears then as well for all those young men and women who gave their lives. Love that we have a border that’s had a largely peaceful history. Thanks for visiting.
Lovely poem, Diana. Thanks for sharing.
And thank you for stopping by, Jo-Anne. Hugs.
As always, Diana, your thoughts and poem are deeply compassionate. I recently saw an update on the courageous soldier who, by all accounts should not have survived, fighting to regain his life. He is just one of the many brave men and women to whom we owe our profound gratitude. Thank you for sharing! Thank you to God for putting him on this earth 🙏❤️
Thank you, Karen. Yes, we need more people like Captain Trevor Greene for sure. He’s pretty incredible, having gone through what he went through and still has a positive attitude. What an example. He is a hero, for sure.