9/11 Twenty Years On

In my grandparents time, Pearl Harbor was one of the most defining moments of a generation. I don't think for my (or even my parents) generation, any event was so Earth shaking as those moments when highjacked planes flew themselves into the former World Trade Center in New York. The images from that day will haunt me for the rest of my life I suspect. The world will be living with the aftershocks for a generation to come.

Make no mistake, twenty years later we are living in the shadow of the Twin Towers collapsing. The world as we know it changed immediately after that event, and it took on a momentum of its own.

Perhaps because it is the 20th anniversary of that terrible day, or perhaps because of the chaos we have seen playing out in Afghanistan recent, but because of it all, I am brought back to when I wasn't yet ten years old and I saw the world change. I remember the news conferences, the repeated footage, and the tumultuous decisions around the clock as the news tried to keep up with the response to the deadliest terrorist attack in human history which killed nearly 3,000 and wounded 25,000. I even remember the fear that crept into everyone in some form or another. 

Barely a month would pass before the Bush administration ordered military action in Afghanistan, and until recently, we were living with a "forever war" where US and allied forces were fighting an uphill battle against a tenacious enemy who had harbored the man who carried out 9/11. Little would the world realize that the war would go on for nearly two decades, and the most powerful military in the world would lose. Whether it was because there was no coherent mission, enriching weapons manufacturers, it was a war that went on well past the point of sanity and only succeeded, broadly, in carrying out its goal of impoverishing Al-Qaeda, and killing Osama bin Laden. In Pakistan. 

That of course, was not all. Seemingly losing track of the mission at hand the Bush administration then contrived to invade Iraq and topple the tyrannical regime of Saddam Hussein, a man who had nothing to do with 9/11. This would lead to another "forever war" which did toppled Saddam, but did very little for the stability of the Middle East as a whole. All the consequences of that decision are still playing out to this day.

I have been reading all about that history recently. The bungling, the fear, the botched reactions, and it is sobering. I can only encourage people who lived through it, and those born afterwards, to go out and read the more accessible history detailing the choices made going to war, and after the wars had ostensibly "ended" according to the politicians. It's a mess that, twenty years on, is still difficult to understand. 

History aside, I am choosing to spend this 9/11 living for tomorrow. We must remember the dead from that day, but we cannot forget the innumerable graves dug across the Middle East by decades of war and pointless struggle. We should open our arms to those fleeing the consequences of the actions of the West in Afghanistan and Iraq, and we should do better on the world stage in the coming decades. 

So today, on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, I ask everyone to take a moment of silence, not just for those lost in New York, but for every life lost in the last two decades. Remember these tragedies, and remember that we can do better in the world. There are so many people who have grown up not knowing the collapse of the Two Towers and its traumatic images, and they don't need to live in the shadow of the mistakes of the past. We can build a better world for tomorrow, and we should set our energies to doing so.

Remembrance Day 2018

1914-1918

Today 100 years ago, the guns fell silent across the front. On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the German Empire agreed to an armistice. The Great War, was over. For four years, three months and two weeks the greatest war the world had yet seen has raged across the face of the globe. From Europe, Asia, Africa, to South America, the war has been fought. The Central Powers have collapsed, and the Entente has won, but at great cost.

The fighting though, is not completely over. In Russia, a brutal civil war between Communist and anti-Communist forces rages on, and will do so into the next decade. Post war skirmishes between the new nations carved out from the corpses of old powers are springing up, and revolution is in the air in Germany and the former Hapsburg Empire.

However, for the Entente powers, the war is won. All that has to be decided now, is the peace.

Today, I remember the service of my own ancestors. Most specifically, William Schoular, my great grandfather. He fought with the Canadian Corps across the fields of France and recently I was able to view letters he wrote during the war.

These small memories and pieces of personal history are always fascinating, and these little looks into my own family history will allow me years of study on the subject.

Let us remember though, even though one great war ended 100 years ago, the fighting around the world rages on today. Canadians are still giving their lives on foreign battlefields, whether to keep the peace, or fight terrorism, they fight to protect us and others.

We should not, cannot, forget the sacrifice of those who came before us, or those who even now lay down their lives for our freedoms. Take a moment today to remember the brave men and women who have fought and bled for us, and if you can, thank a veteran.

Lest we forget.

Remembering Passchendaele

Today, on November 11th, we solemnly remember the men and women who have given their lives year after year in service of our country. This year however, it coincides with the 100th anniversary of a brutal blood letting which enveloped France exactly a century ago. This was of course the three month Battle of Passchendaele.

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

This bloody contest over a sea of mud for little gain was actually objected to by the commander of the Canadian Corps, Arthur Currie. He predicted that the battle would cost 16,000 Canadian casualties and was eerily accurate as it wound up costing 15,654 causlties to the Canadians.

It was an awful slog. One Canadian would say "The ground beggars description. The strongest and youngest cannot navigate without falling down."[1]. Indeed that is almost an understatement. The battlefield was a sea of mud which drowned men, mules, and horses, saw supplies simply sink into the mire, and sucked at men's legs like glue. Truly the sea of mud defies description or belief, especially belief that someone would think such a mad attack would succeed in anything.

In the end the Canadians prevailed, and the village was captured. The outcome though, has been debated back and forth for a century at this point, and it is doubtful that any consensus will ever truly be reached on the matter.

What cannot be doubted however, is the courage, valor, and unrelenting heroism shown by the Canadian Corps. They played a key role as shock troops for the Entente across the Western Front all the way to the armistice that was signed 99 years ago. Since then Canadians have been active on battlefields from France to Africa, giving their lives in the name of peace.

The valor of Canadians then and now should not be forgotten. The continued service of our men and women in uniform should be praised and acknowledged for what it is, and we should never forget those who have given their lives in service to this country at home or abroad, now and forever.

We remember.

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1] Pierre Burton, Marching As To War, Page 185, Doubleday Canada, 2001

A Sad Day with a Historic Passing

Today readers I was saddened to hear that the first man on the moon had passed away. That's right ladies and gentlemen the man who said 'The Eagle has landed' and made that historic walk has passed today leaving us with a great legacy to be fulfilled. He was the first to leave his prints on the lunar soil, and they shall remain there as a legacy to him for millenia to come. Yes Neil Armstrong has passed away today.

Though he was not the last man in the moon we have much to do to live up to this brave pioneer's legacy. Though we have not set foot on the moon in over four decades we can only hope we will do so again in the future so the bravery, sacrfice and courage of these early space exlporers can live on and give us a shining hope in the 21st century.

Let us remember the many historic moment when he said 'That's one small step for man, and one giant leap for mankind.' I salute you Neil Armstrong and may your memory spur us all on to greater deeds as we gaze starward and begin to explore that final frontier.

Remembering D-Day

Though published late today I would ask readers to remember that on this day in 1944 many of our fathers and grandfathers undertook the Great Crusade to crush the Nazi menace in Europe and end the threat of facism posed to the free world. I wish to honor their sacrifice and pray for those who fought and died in that conflict on both sides. May we never forget the sacrifice and valor of our forefathers and the awesome actions they undertook to ensure our freedom.

May their sacrifice not have been in vain.