Never forget, always remember

In Canada today we are observing Remembrance Day, the day where we honour those who fought and those who died for our country. It is nice to see Michelle Malkin and others putting up posts today, so I thought I would do the same. This day has a special meaning for my family, it is another day we spend remembering Alfred Joseph Foster, my grandfather. Joe was one of the lucky ones, he came home after World War II when many other didn’t. At the age of 17, he lied to recruiters and joined the military, serving on Corvettes escorting shipping across the Atlantic. After the war, he spent years as a volunteer fireman, he even started his own hotel cleaning business… He died a few years ago following a massive stroke, but he lived a long life when other he knew didn’t…

Remembering my grandfather also reminds me about the sacrifice he and others made when they were called upon to serve their country. Today is a day to remember what so many gave up so that we could live a free and safe life. The issue I am having is that so many have hijacked Remembrance Day to fulfill their own goals. Year by year it gets worse, the message of “Never Forget” has morphed into “Never Again”, and that is the problem…

Knowing how history has played out, war is constant. There has always been and always will be those who seek to oppress others, tyrants who will find power one way or another, especially in less developed regions of the world. Whether it is driven by ethnic, religious, monetary or a vast number of other differences, though the reasons are different, the outcome is always the same. Just take a look at the last century and see how even after the Great War, the “war to end all wars”, didn’t change much. The Treaty of Versailles, for example, fueled hatred within Germany which lead them to elect Adolf Hitler in 1932. The partitioning which created the state of Israel shortly after the Second World War has lead to a countless number of minor and major conflicts over the years, spurred on by religious tensions which date back centuries.

No matter what happens or what is said, there will always be war. The problem I am seeing is that every Veterans Day and Remembrance Day we see anti-war groups using the memory of fallen soldiers towards their own perverted ends. In high school, I was shocked and disgusted at how far these people would go to indoctrinate young and naive students, telling them it was the fault of military build up that lead to World War II, that power hungry governments wouldn’t sit down and talk with tyrant leaders to prevent bloodshed. In my last year of high school, I sat in the cafeteria watching a twisted display of this, a student prepared service which deeply offended myself, my friends and rational teachers. Watching my English teacher shake his head and exit the assembly in disgust was all I needed to see, a confirmation of what I had witnessed had crossed a line. I personally blame The War Amps and Operation Legacy for this. Instead of celebrating the freedom which so many fought and died for, they preach this irrational message of NEVER AGAIN!, trying to scare future generations into adopting their strict anti-war stance. Do I respect their service? Definitely, but these efforts can’t be simply ignored because of their sacrifices…

Could the First World War have been prevented with words? Anyone who studied it knows that the end result was very much inevitable. The Franco-Prussian War and continuing French hatred towards Germany, Britain’s fear of Germany’s growing power, tension between Tsar Nikolay Alexandrovich Romanov and the peasants of his country, etc all of which boiled over when Arch-Duke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophia were killed by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Black Hand. Even the family ties of European royals couldn’t prevent this, so how could discussions between them do any better?

Could the Second World War have been prevented with words? Actually this was tried before Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany. Former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain met with Adolf Hitler to try to negotiate a cease of hostilities. He, along with others tried to prevent war through negotiations, but all it managed to do was encourage Nazi aggression. On the other hand, if military action was taken sooner, as many historians have pointed out, Hitler’s march across Europe might have been halted before he took France, which helped him fortify his position in Europe.

Anyone who has studied history knows that aggression can only be defeated by a greater aggression. The Khmer Rouge’s reign of tyranny ended when the Vietnamese retaliated to Pol Pot’s ill-advised invasion with their own invasion into Cambodia which forced the brutal regime from power. Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau enacted the War Measures Act during the October Crisis, stomping out the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) in one display of military power and “martial law”, ending their terrorist campaign permanently. Ronald Reagan’s aggressive stance during the Cold War brought Mikhail Gorbachev to power, and with his help, ended the reign of the Soviet Union. There are many more example throughout history of this truth, something so many are willing to ignore.

Let’s take today to remember those who did understand this lesson, those who sacrificed so much to defeat tyranny which threatened their country and countries around the world. This isn’t about “never again”, it is about understanding that war is evil, but a necessary evil. War is used to preserve peace, a peace so many of us seem to take for granted. Military power is important for that reason. It isn’t always about defeating an enemy, it is also about showing them that you are not just willing, but capable of stopping them if they cross the line.

Never forget those who fought for our freedom, and always remember why they did it. That is what Remembrance Day is all about… You dishonour the memories of those who sacrificed for us to think otherwise…