Reporter: Luke Callebert
Remembrance Day.
What does the day mean to you? Is it a day spent reflecting, and heading out to a ceremony and talk to veterans from your area? Is it something you watch from a distance or through social media and the Internet? Do you just live through the day like it was any other?
When I walked into a local store in early November and saw a veteran get ignored as he tried to hand out poppies for small donations, I started to ask myself what does Remembrance Day mean nowadays?
Remembrance Day has a different meaning for every individual and family. Some have loved ones overseas, in conflicts in Afghanistan and in peacekeeping missions around the globe. Some had family members who fought in WWI and II and Korea. Some can trace all the way back to the South African War.
The one constant is that it’s a day meant to be spent remembering the men and women who never forgot us.
Brave men and women, who have sacrificed so much to make sure our freedoms, were protected. It is easy to forget that the things we all take for granted were won at such a cost. My grandfather is a Korean War veteran and being of German decent, I have other family members that fought in the World Wars, on both sides.
Yet I have never had to go to war. I don’t know first hand the experiences of war, life in the trenches, fighting for every inch, all the while wondering if your next step could be your last.
Honouring the sacrifices that were made for us is the least that can be done. It does not require a political stance, it does not require supporting war or agreeing with governments or policy. All it requires is paying respects to men and women past and present who have served.
It is imperative that people of today take the time to remember, pay their respects, meet and talk to the veterans who have given so much for us. The veterans all have a story to tell. It’s free, rewarding and moving. Take some time and listen, hear them out.
It may end up being the best story you’ve ever heard.
