A day of Remembrance, Reflection, and Renewed Commitment to Vigilance

“Welcome to our Covid restricted Remembrance Day ceremonies”. That’s how the annual gathering at the Fredericton Cenotaph began this morning.  

As I stood among the sparse crowd, the sun shining brightly and the temperature more pleasant that it usually is for this day, my thoughts went to those who fought and sacrificed, many with their lives. I thought about relatives I never met because they died in the war before I was born. And about my uncles who came back, and about my dad, remembering the letter that was given to him by friends at a send-off the night before he left for overseas.  

And then I thought about how the Remembrance Day Cenotaph ceremony here in Fredericton has changed. Up until Covid changed everything last year, I watched the crowds grow year after year, with more parents bringing their kids and teaching them what this day is about, and more and more immigrants turning out to show respect and gratitude.  

But as the turnouts grew, the march past by veterans of World War 2 shrunk as the years claimed more and more of them. There was no march today because of Covid, but I wonder how diminished their ranks would be had there been one. And my thoughts went to a couple of dear friends for whom Remembrance Day was always especially special. Jackie Webster, who was close to so many veterans and wrote a memorable piece about the Red Chevrons, veteran soldiers who had a special bond and would meet for a special toast every Remembrance Day, until their ranks too reduced to none. I blogged on this a few Remembrance Days ago. And then Jackie passed, and at the same time so did my good friend Bob Miller, who for years had played a prominent role in the Remembrance Day service, having inherited doing readings that for many years previous his father, veteran Rev. Reg Miller used to deliver with his distinctive Welsh accent. They both had become synonymous with Remembrance Day, in Fredericton and also at Kingsclear First Nation.  

There were other changes to the ceremony today. After the welcome, the legion pastor delivered a detailed land acknowledgement, making a point to mention we are marking the day on unceded Wolastoqey territory, to applause from much of the assembled crowd, which is a rarity at such a solemn occasion.  

Thoughts of relatives or friends lost to the wars is of course a huge part of Remembrance Day, but even more so is the meaning of those sacrifices all those years ago. The fact we enjoy fundamental freedoms because of those who fought tyranny can never be forgotten.  

And then my mind went to what’s happening with our neighbours to the south, where one of the two major parties has morphed from reasonable to one that requires all its members to support the Big Lie, and how in states where they have power, they have adopted initiatives ranging from voter suppression to bans on teaching about slavery. And where the most insane of fringe thinking has become mainstream with an alternative reality where the lives of civil servants are threatened just because they do their jobs with integrity. It all poses a real threat to that country’s democracy.  

Consider that the man who said there were also good Nazis in Charlottesville enjoys a large and loyal following, and could very well get elected again. And if he does, his dictator tendencies will shift into high gear and history teaches us that once a guy like that has power he will do everything he needs to, to hold onto it. The past year has sure shown the truth of that, and as political observers have noted, the last election was a trial run. The result wasn’t overturned because ethical people didn’t allow it. But now, systematically, those people are being replaced by others who aren’t burdened by a moral compass. So next time, there will be nothing to stop Trump from not only declaring, but grabbing victory, regardless of how many votes he gets.  

I appreciate this is as dire and pessimistic a view and you’ll find, but it could very well happen. 

What has this got to do with today’s Remembrance Day? Lots. Imagine those soldiers who fought and either died in the war or since, and how they would be, as the saying goes, rolling over in their graves to know what has become of that country which once strived to be the shining city on a hill. 

No one saw that coming. For us, it’s reason to be more thankful than ever to be Canadian, but it’s also a reminder of how we can’t take the democracy they fought for, for granted, because it is fragile. It’s a wake-up call to be ever vigilant and all the more committed to holding onto it. Those who sacrificed deserve nothing less.

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