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Remembrance Day

Francesca Silva

remembrance.jpgNovember 11th is Remembrance Day in Canada, a day for recognizing our soldiers, who risked and continue to risk their lives to defend our country.

Yes, I know recently there’s been a lot of discussion on our blogs about how we shouldn’t need to fight wars. I agree. I wish we didn’t have to fight wars. I wish soldiers didn’t have to put their lives on the line to protect our country. I sincerely wish we could all get along and create a world of peace and harmony.

Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that we live in a world of conflict and turmoil. Conflicts that start small escalate into large wars, where people – civilians and soldiers alike – die. It shouldn’t happen. But it does.

Remembrance Day is close to my heart. Why? Because my father was a volunteer soldier in the Ambulance Brigade during World War II. He lost family and friends in that war. Everyone who knew him respected him as a peaceful man – and yet he volunteered to defend our country. He rarely spoke about the war, except to say he had volunteered to protect our freedom, to uphold our right to express ourselves freely and live our lives according to our own beliefs.

Of course everyone should have the right to believe what they want to believe in. Being idealistic and wanting a peaceful world is wonderful, but I also feel an idealist needs to recognize that, were it not for our soldiers, we would not have the freedom to be idealistic. That right could well be taken away from us by someone dictating every aspect of our public actions and beliefs.

So this Remembrance Day, like every other, I’m going to buy a poppy from a veteran – and when I do so, I’m going to thank him for risking his life so that we can enjoy the freedom we have today.[tags]remembrance day, veteran’s day, war, fight, soldiers, protect the country, world war II[/tags]

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