The Loss of Living Memory ...

I cherish the afternoon chats I had with a gentleman by the name of Herb ... he was at the time 104 years old, and with nary a grey hair on his head, shared with me memories of the war that loomed large in his recollections of his youth. One day not long before Remembrance Day I happened into Herb's room in the care facility where he lived, and we began chatting about his experience as a veteran.

He pulled out a yellowed envelope and showed me the certificate of appreciation he had long ago received for his service in a battle now known simply as Vimy. He spoke of the gas attacks he endured in those harrowing days, he talked about the lasting damage the battle left on his brother and then he showed me the scars of his wounds ... That day I heard first hand about a battle I had read a dozen books and accounts of, and for a moment understood the magnitude of the events that were slowly slipping from our grasp as those with living experience and living memories of those days were slowly aging and dying ...

I consider it a blessing, to have met men and women who have served in the Two World Wars, and in the Korean War and Peace keeping missions that followed ... they have graciously shared their memories and recollections and added to my understanding of these events as they've shared what they saw and felt and experienced ...

Today we say our farewells as a people and a nation to the last survivor who served Canada in Uniform during The War to End All Wars of 1914 to 1918 ... John Babcock, who began life a mere 109 years ago in the farming district not far from Kingston Ontario has ended his earthly journey as the Last Surviving Veteran of World War One (The CBC story is here).

For the first time in our history as a nation, there are no stooped grey headed veterans to stand and honour the fallen from the war that so shocked and horrified the world, that they implemented an annual day of Remembrance with the vow of never forgetting the fallen as we work for the advancement of peace ... almost a century and several wars later, we are still striving for that goal.

Today we pause to salute the memory of folks like Mr. Babcock, Herb and the others who were part of our living memory and who from failing hands entrusted the torch of Remembrance for us to hold high as we proclaim the importance of Remembering ...

Lest We Forget !!