Remembrance Day ~ Lest We Forget

[billonlogan]

Lest We Forget at 11:00 AM to give two minutes of silence in respect to the veterans who have sacrificed so much for us.

A Pittance of Time by Terry Kelly

"It takes courage to fight in your own war...it takes courage to fight someone else's war."

 

[building babel]

We Will Remember Them

An evening of Music for Remembrance

Friday November 10th. 7:30 p.m.
St.Paul's Anglican Church
277 Bloor Street East.

Featuring
"A Song of Thanksgiving"
by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Narrated by Susan Kerr
With special guest John Neville

with
The Choir of St. Paul's
The Mississauga Children's Chorus
The Tallis Choir of Toronto
The North York Temple Salvation Army Band
and piper Rob Crabtree

Tickets: $25 at the door.

I'm going - my neighbour Daphne sings in the choir.

 

[cdl42]

Remembrance Day is so very important, I always try my best to make it out to a service. Standing outside Old City Hall in almost complete silence is a moving experience, as is seeing thousands of people lay their poppies on the cenotaph and thank the veterans seated around afterwards. It bugs me that more people can't take half an hour out of the year to stop, shut up, and just THINK.

Take whatever meaning you want out of it. For me, it's time to remember that war is hell... true hell. Something that I thankfully will likely never have to experience myself. A time to remember that there are no winners in war, no matter what hawks may say.

----------------

That said, I think it's worth mentioning this petition from the Dominion Institute to offer a state funeral to the last Canadian First World War veteran.

 

[The Mississauga Muse]

Re: Remembrance Day --Streetsville (Mississauga) 2006

Today's Remembrance Day ceremonies at the Streetsville Cenotraph in Streetsville (Mississauga)

Veterans stand at attention as ceremony begins.

Cadets stand in silent tribute.

Dignitaries representing Mississauga lay their wreath. (Left to right) Councillors George Carlson and Pat Saito, Mayor Hazel McCallion and MPP Bob Delaney)

Two people grew cold in the wind and rain. The Veteran and a Haida cadet shivered.

An Indigenous People's representative offered her respect.

The HAIDA cadet now shivered non-stop.

Mayor Hazel McCallion (hands disappearing deep inside the sleeves of her coat) gives a look that I interpreted as either deep-in-thought or one-third-frozen. However, if she was cold, she'd never admit it --like the most of the war vets, she's from The Greatest Generation too.

This is my favourite pic of the day. I can't help it. I just love the Canadian flag --and there were plenty of them in this shot. Cadets leaving --

--smartly followed by Peel Regional Police.

This Veteran in his chauffer-driven jeep Thumbs-Up a warm "til next year" to the Indigenous People's reps.

As the crowd thins, a Veteran is interviewed by Rogers Cable. When I look at a NAVY Vet, I can't help but wonder if he was 'The One' who helped sink one my father's ships (yes, plural).

Wreaths and poppies, Streetsville Cenotaph (Mississauga), November 11, 2006.

LEST WE FORGET.

Last, to cdl42, thanks for sharing that special URL. I followed your lead and just signed the petition from the Dominion Institute to offer a state funeral to the last Canadian First World War veteran.


Signed,
The Mississauga Muse

 

[Observer Walt]

Re: Remembrance Day

Amen.

 

[The Mississauga Muse]

Re: Remembrance Day --Streetsville (Mississauga) 2006

You will find a video of the Veterans' March to the Streetsville Cenotaph on YOUTUBE. Mississauga Mayor, Hazel McCallion joins in.

Signed,
The Mississauga Muse

 

[building babel]

Re: Remembrance Day --Streetsville (Mississauga) 2006

The Mississauga Children's Chorus were wonderful at the concert. As were the Tallis and church choirs. Old John Neville was in fine voice with the poetry readings. And how unusual to be surrounded by people who love bagpipe music. And how beautifully they were played.

The real drama was when the Salvation Arms trumpeter came in at the wrong time - and refused to stop. The conductor tried everything - stared him down and shook his head, did the "slit throat" motion, advanced menacingly and waved his arms about - but the rogue trumpeter ignored him. Eventually he threw his instrument down and walked off. But his solo later was beautiful. The telling of the tale caused much amusement at Daphne's dinner party last night.

 

[The Mississauga Muse]

DOMINION INSTITUTE --State funeral for last war vet wins app

On November 10th, cdl42 wrote:

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Re: Remembrance Day ~ Lest We Forget
That said, I think it's worth mentioning this petition from the Dominion Institute to offer a state funeral to the last Canadian First World War veteran.

From the Dominion Institute and it's wonderful news.

[snip]

Thanks to you and the over 90,000 people who signed our petition for a State Funeral for the last veteran of the First World War, the Parliament of Canada unanimously passed the following motion introduced by M.P. Peter Stoffer on Tuesday, November 21:

"That, in the opinion of this House, the Government of Canada should honour all who served Canada in the First World War by sponsoring a State Funeral on the passing of the last Canadian veteran of this Great War."

This binding motion will ensure that at the appropriate time the family of the last veteran of the Great War will be offered a full State Funeral to recognise the service and sacrifice of their loved one and the 600,000 fellow Canadians who served under arms from 1914 to 1918.

This brings to a conclusion the Dominion Institute's public campaign for a State Funeral for the last First World War veteran.

On behalf of all the veterans, staff and volunteers at the Dominion Institute thank you for supporting for this important national cause!


Rudyard Griffiths, Executive Director
The Dominion Institute
http://www.dominion.ca/statefuneral

[snip]

The Institute's email linked to a Globe article:

State funeral for last war vet wins approval

SCOTT DEVEAU

Globe and Mail Update

The last remaining Canadian First World War veteran will be laid to rest at a state funeral, after Ottawa voted unanimously Tuesday in favour an NDP motion to bestow the honour, which is normally reserved for former heads of government.

Just three Canadian first World War veterans are believed to be still alive - the oldest being 106 years old.

While state funerals in Canada are normally reserved former Governors-General and Prime Ministers, there has been an enormous groundswell of support in recent weeks for honouring the passing of the last remaining First World War veteran with such a ceremony....

The rest is at:

State funeral for last war vet wins approval

 

[building babel]

Re: DOMINION INSTITUTE --State funeral for last war vet wins

I heard on the radio this morning that the veteran who lives in the States has declined the honour, if he is the survivor of the three, since he didn't see active service.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Re: DOMINION INSTITUTE --State funeral for last war vet wins

I understand the symbolism of it all, but wouldn't giving a state funeral for the last survivor be "unfair" to everyone else who served?

AoD

 

[cdl42]

Re: DOMINION INSTITUTE --State funeral for last war vet wins

I guess in the same way that a monument to the unknown soldier is unfair to all the known ones.

In other words... no.

 

[bizorky]

Re: DOMINION INSTITUTE --State funeral for last war vet wins

^But that soldier is unknown, and there were similar questions concerning that symbolic act as well.

World War One is a largely forgotten war for most people. There is confusion between it and the Second World War. Ask any sampling of people why the First Wold War started and you will discover that the answers are at best vague because the reasons for this war are, at best, vague.

 

[building babel]

Re: DOMINION INSTITUTE --State funeral for last war vet wins

I don't think the "reason" for WWI, or whether some people confuse it with WWII or the Boer War or the Korean War or any other war, has anything to do with it. The idea is simply to mark the passing of the last person to serve in a war that killed more Canadians than any other - an event all the more significant and traumatic because we had a much smaller population in 1914/1918 - and which was a major factor in forging our identity as a nation on the world stage at a time when Canada was considered primarily as an adjunct to Britain rather than an independent country.

 

[bizorky]

Re: DOMINION INSTITUTE --State funeral for last war vet wins

I hate to disagree with you, but the forging of a Canadian identity during the First World War is a rather mythological notion. The idea of Canada created in bloodshed is a romantic notion held up by certain historians who pine for some military imagery to make the emergence of Canada look "exciting" or manly. Nothing like promoting the imagery of a country being forged on bloody battlefield, I guess. The Canada of 1914-1918 is, of course, not the Canada of today. Canadians were British subjects then, and fought for England. Canadians did not have Canadian passports; they had British passports. Canada was an adjunct to Britian, before and after that war.

I say this not to reduce in any way the people who fought in this war, or the sacrifices that they made, but to suggest that this conflict - which had an immense impact on the Western nations - remains poorly understood. Yes, people want to commemerate the passing of the last Canadian soldier. But will we commemerate the legacy of this war in terms of the damage it did? Do we remember the huge number of civilian deaths? Do we recall the abuse of colonial power in dragging unrelated nations into a conflict that revolved around their control? Do we recognize that the political failings of the First World War contributed directly to the Second World War? Do we even recall that when soldiers returned home from that war, many found poor treatment and unemployment?

I have no issues with commemoration, but when it comes to conflicts as destructive as a world wars, gestures become easy emotional replacements for critical understanding that is crucial in the prevention of needless conflict.

 

[The Mississauga Muse]

Re: DOMINION INSTITUTE --State funeral for last war vet wins

bizorky,

thanks so much for your latest comments --especially this:

Do we remember the huge number of civilian deaths? Do we recall the abuse of colonial power in dragging unrelated nations into a conflict that revolved around their control? Do we recognize that the political failings of the First World War contributed directly to the Second World War? Do we even recall that when soldiers returned home from that war, many found poor treatment and unemployment?

That's what my mother says. She commemorates certain dates from the Second World War --"day they bombed..." "day your grandfather..." "day that airplane..."

Even today, we can be sitting in the backyard and she'll hear "that certain sound" that an airplane makes even flying over Mississauga and --she's back in the 40's.

Having people drop bombs on you changes you forever.

You wrote:

I have no issues with commemoration, but when it comes to conflicts as destructive as a world wars, gestures become easy emotional replacements for critical understanding that is crucial in the prevention of needless conflict.

Agree completely but here's the problem.

Critical understanding rests in the domain of the cerebral cortex --which, as I'm sure you know, "makes language, including speech and writing possible. It renders logical and formal operational thinking possible and allows us to see ahead and plan for the future."

Conflict however, is where our R-complex (Reptilian brain) does its thing.

Because the reptilian brain is primarily concerned with physical survival, the behaviors it governs have much in common with the survival behaviors of animals. It plays a crucial role in establishing home territory, reproduction and social dominance.

Survival behaviours. Territory. Social dominance. All the fun stuff, bizorky, that go hand-in-hand with needless conflict.

Bad news still to come:

The overriding characteristics of R-complex behaviors are that they are automatic, have a ritualistic quality, and are highly resistant to change.

And let's add our Limbic System.

The limbic system, the second brain to evolve, houses the primary centers of emotion. It includes the amygdala, which is important in the association of events with emotion...The amygdala comes into play in situations that arouse feelings such as fear, pity, anger, or outrage.

"situations that arouse" fear, anger, outrage help fuel needless conflict. If humans do feel pity it's far too often reserved for members of "their side" which also helps fuel needless conflict.

That, bizorky, is my understanding on wars.

Our R-complex and Amygdala (functioning in tandem) battling with our cerebral cortex.

AND --that R-complex and Amygdala in some cases, have THE BOMB.

*sigh*

And something else I keep thinking about that I simply can't remember where I read or heard this:

NO JUSTICE
NO PEACE

Oh my, isn't that even at the root of so many local problems, let alone global conflicts...

Now, OFF to GOOGLE NEWS to see what R-complex and Amygdala have been up to overnight...