Looking around at all the wreaths and poppies, the monuments, the sombre faces of veterans as they make their way back home after today’s ceremonies, it is still difficult to comprehend the sheer magnitude of the wars November 11th commemorates.
If the entire population of present-day Canada were wiped out, it would amount to a little over half of the 50 million who died in World War II. Millions more died in World War I, and millions upon millions more in armed conflicts since World War II.
Yet they are more than just numbers or names on a list. This was no abstract war on the nightly news, the way war is for most North Americans these days. World War II was in your face.
It takes little more than a glance at the pages of the Varsity from World War I to understand that life at U of T was very different during that war. The front page is full of stories of U of T students killed in action in Europe. And everywhere there are advertisements for military uniforms.
Each of the names on the front cover of today’s issue was a student here who wanted nothing more than to finish studies, start a family, live out life in peace; and who never got the chance to do any of those things. When it really sinks in, you can’t help but be overcome by sorrow.
It is our duty as citizens of this country to remember what these men and women gave up, and to observe this day with due respect. It is unforgivable how often this reflection is ignored while business, classes, television, and whatever else goes on as usual. Thousands died for our freedom. The least we can give them is a single minute of silent reflection.
The greatest tragedy in the history of warfare is that even after the brutality of the world wars, we still go on killing each other. The global arms trade is flourishing, and members of the U.S. government are even talking about bringing back the draft.
Perhaps we can use this day to remember the countless victims who’ve died in other conflicts, terrorist attacks, and fully blown wars all over the world since the end of World War II in 1945.
Besides, it’s not enough to simply remember. We owe it to the victims of war to try to prevent future conflicts as well; otherwise their sacrifice is meaningless.
Part of the madness of war is that every party to violence claims to be in the right. Occupying armies always call themselves liberators, just as the Nazi forces did when they rolled into Poland.
Until citizens of each nation are willing to entertain the possibility that they could be wrong, future wars will erupt with the same sickening regularity as they did in the 20th century.
We should not exempt Canada and its allies from this sort of scrutiny. Few would argue that we should not have joined the fight against fascism in World War II, but we have not been blameless in every conflict, nor are we likely to be in the future.
Let us remember today the victims of war and recognize how fortunate we are to live in a country free from its ravages. Many have lamented that Remembrance Day no longer gets the respect it deserves (it’s hard to even find a poppy to wear these days).
We fear something worse.
When we’re just going through the motions-when Remembrance Day no longer motivates us to seek solutions, beyond greater firepower, then it will be truly dead. It is our responsibility to make sure that doesn’t happen. By the time you read this, most Remembrance Day ceremonies will be long over, but that doesn’t mean we should stop thinking about it.
