November 11, 2026
At the 11th hour of
the 11th day of the 11th month, in the year 1918, the Armistice
went into effect that called a halt to all hostilities of the first Great War. Signed
earlier that same day—at 5:15am in a rail car in the Compiègne Forest in France—this armistice allowed the diplomats time to fully
negotiate the peace—the Treaty of Versailles—that would be signed slightly more
than seven months later, on June 28, 2019.
World War I was the bloodiest
conflict known to mankind to that point in history. The estimated death toll—from
15 to 22 million—must have seemed an impossible number at the time. Adding to
the loss of life over and above that horrendous number? It’s estimated that an
additional 48 to 98 million people died from the first great world-wide
pandemic, the Spanish flu, that followed on the heels of the first great war.
It’s no mystery to me why, in
this year of 2026, we still stand for two minutes of silence on this day, which
is called Veteran’s Day in the United States, and Remembrance Day here in
Canada.
We’re a remarkably slow-witted
species when it comes to certain areas of life experience, aren’t we? So many
people lost in so many conflicts that we’ve had to number our “great wars”. All evidence would seem to point to the fact
that we’ve become exceptionally cavalier in our treatment of our greatest resource—humanity.
Of course, when speaking in
general terms about humanity or the human condition, it’s crucial to remember
one truth—something that has been true since the dawn of the species. Evil is a
real factor for consideration. It exists, and evil people always seem to turn
up at the worst possible times and do more damage than one untainted by evil
could ever possibly imagine.
But I digress.
This day—Remembrance Day—gives
us a moment to pause and to let our thoughts return to the past. To remember the
people who went to war in defense of our country. To recall the sacrifices made
to wrest victory from the grasping hands of tyranny, to protect freedom-loving
people the world over.
This day is about those men,
and later women, who answered their country’s call to service and gave the
ultimate sacrifice. To most of us, these people are images on a page,
statistics, individuals none of us ever knew. They are, at best, an idea.
But in their time, they lived
and loved and laughed. They’d been babies born to loving parents; husbands of adoring
spouses; and parents of innocent children.
To those parents, spouses and
children, their loss was profound. Their lives were lost, and their
futures were lost as well. Their deaths became an end to what had been and
what might have been—a most tragic if only.
It seems a small duty, therefore,
to take time on a morning in November to listen to The Last Post or Taps, and
to stand silent—in honour and, I think, in promise.
In promise because we often
say those words, “never again”. I’d like to think that someday, somehow, those
words will actually stick.
Love,
Morgan
http://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury
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