Since many of us will be at home on this Remembrance Day — and perhaps even alone, I’ve compiled a little kit for honouring our living service people and mourning our dead.
I have adapted the paragraphs below written for schools by the National War Museum.
BUILDING BLOCKS FOR A REMEMBRANCE DAY CEREMONY
The two minutes of silence should be observed on 11 November at 11 a.m. Before the minutes begin, provide students with context by explaining the historical significance and directing their thoughts as follows:
The First World War ended on 11 November 1918 at 11 a.m. Today, we honour the country’s sacrifice in all wars and conflicts with two minutes of silence at that time. Use this time to think about the contributions of the men and women who have served in the Canadian military, the sacrifices made in war and how we might strive for a more peaceful world.
I’ve chosen two videos for your solemn music. Take your two minutes of silence after the last note of The Last Post.
Two minutes here. Then play Rouse.
We use Last Post and Reveille (Rouse) at Remembrance Day ceremonies. It draws the symbolic association between the soldier's last duty of sitting sentry (death) and his rising above his mortal duties (reveille).
A Remembrance Day Story:
Ten-year-old Aileen Rogers gave this teddy bear to her father, Lawrence Rogers. She hoped that it would keep him safe while he served as a stretcher bearer in the First World War.
Lawrence Rogers carried the bear in his jacket pocket. It was with him in the trenches of France and Belgium. The conditions took a toll on the bear, loosening its legs.
Lieutenant Rogers was killed while trying, under fire, to bandage the wounds of a fallen soldier.
The badly worn little Teddy was found on his body and returned to Aileen. It can be viewed as part of the collection at the National War Museum in Ottawa.
In Flanders Fields:
BY JOHN MCCRAE
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
I love the story be below.
Let’s wrap up with a hopeful video from our young people. It’s from way back in 2019, pre-Covid and the Raptors were about to do the unthinkable. I remember well how united the city and the country were around that team and our big moment. A united country is what our soldiers fought for — so perhaps this is the perfect version of O Canada to end on. I pray none of these joyful young people ever know the horrors of war.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Please leave your Remembrance Day thoughts and feelings in the comments below.
And share this when you get it so others can take part at 11 this morning.
Thanks for publishing this. I'm one of the few people my age (47) who had a father who was a soldier in WWII, as well as being named after my uncle who was a soldier as well but died during it. In contrast to the baby-boomer parents of the vast majority of those my age, I got to grow up hearing about the lead-up to WWII (What is Hitler going to do next? Will it be war?) and what it was like living through it, which I think is one of the reasons for my interest in all things historical.
But I wanted to comment on your latest podcast. Not so much about your interview with CJ Hopkins (with whom I, as usual, couldn't agree more), but the one with Jacqueline Bynon. Having lived for a time in California in recent years, where I saw first-hand how bad the "homeless" situation can get, I have a great deal of sympathy for what those such as Jacqueline are having to deal with. However, as much as I would like to have hope that such situations will get better, I don't think it will. In fact, I'm sure it won't. I'm old enough to remember when such situations were unimaginable in Canadian cities. Not only would the police have shut these kind of encampments down long ago, but even the mentally ill would not have thought they could get away with camping in the middle of a city. Civilizationally, we have passed a threshold where the "rights" of people to camp in urban parks, regardless of the mess and mayhem they create, will take precedence over the rights of those who live nearby to peace and order. And as you say on the podcast, if cities did actually try to clean these parks up by clearing away these kind of encampments, the activist class, aided and abetted by the media, would protest and sue to protect them, labeling those advocating for cleaning them up as heartless, racist, NIMBYs, etc. And the courts would undoubtedly go along with them.
I wish I were more hopeful, but I just don't see much basis to think that things will get better. In Santa Cruz, CA, where I once lived, the city made a partial attempt to clean up a semi-authorized urban encampment after a number of people were found dead in it due to overdoses and violence, but this merely shifted the problem into smaller pockets, including throughout the forested park I would go for runs in.
I now live in the countryside west of Thunder Bay on an old farm my wife and I bought and are in the process of renovating and renewing. Although I spent over a decade in Montreal (a city I will always miss and love) getting an MA and PhD, I left academia and big cities, having seen the downward direction both are heading.
My advice for you, Jacqueline and others in similar situations is to get out while your property is still worth something, taking what you can and rebuilding a life in the many rural parts of Canada where property is still relatively cheap, like here in North-Western Ontario. No, it's not fashionable or trendy, but at least one can still live a good life, away from the ever-increasing madness of big cities.
I wish I'd never commented at all.