Listowel Banner Submission: Nov. 16, 2011
From the Minister’s desk,
I was allowed to enter into the story of those who fought for my freedom and I was humbled. As I sat there huddled in the archive room at the Listowel library, time seemed to float away. Some descriptions of war from a local soldier, Norman McGuire of Brussels, written in 1918, reminded me of what war is like: “Picture in your mind bare walls, scattered timbers and piles of twisted debris…trenches, mud, muskets, gas masks, shining bayonets and the deadly machine gun that spits out bullets like hail in a storm, all these things serve to break in on the pleasant dream and remind you that you are not on pleasure bent” (p. 14).
As I continued to flip through documents, from soldiers military enlistments to the reports of those killed in action, I could not help but sense that what I was reading were the evidences and marks of real bravery and courage. Here were regular people like you and me, some just starting out in life, many in their early 20’s, farmers, butchers, Presbyterians, Methodists, some single, some with families, all signing their life away with a stroke of a pen as they enlisted to fight in the Great War. For many of them, local residents of Perth, they went to war voluntarily, out of a sense of duty, a lost virtue in our time.
How can we not keep the memory of these heroes alive?
Our routines of eating, playing, working, voting, paying bills, and going to church are a present reality because of the dismal life that these men and women had to endure for our freedom.
As I was casually looking over the Atwood Cenotaph I found myself thinking how hard it is for us to remember. How do we remember what we haven’t known? That is the question asked by the Veterans Affairs Office of Canada.
The question is an important one. Not many of us have experienced war first hand. There are a few that have been blessed with the opportunity to hear stories of war from grandparents, aunts and uncles. Perhaps some of us have family currently serving in Afghanistan and other Canadian peacekeeping missions, but for most of us we have never experienced war first hand.
The reality is that as each generation comes and goes, we become more and more separated from the reality of war. The cruelty, the hate and the depth of human depravity unleashed in war risks becoming a distant memory, along with those who have sacrificed so much for our present freedom. We need those memories revived if we are to avoid repeating history.
How do we remember what we haven’t known?
When we dig up the words of soldiers from the past, they speak volumes and we are opened up to the world as they saw it. What we realize is, as one young soldier testified, that “war is the cruelest business known to humanity” (McGuire, p. 14).
You do not have to visit the local archives in order to remember what you haven’t known. Just take advantage of the opportunities you have been given while you have them. If you know of a veteran who has returned from war, take time to listen and to hear his or her story. Allow his or her experience to change you and to open your eyes.
In the Bible the children of Israel sometimes erected monuments to help them remember God’s faithfulness and to also remember the battles that had been won and lost. When the children of Israel crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land after a long journey through the wilderness, they were asked to put twelve stones in the river as a memorial. Scripture says that “this was to be a sign among you so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘what do these stones mean to you?’ then you shall say to them, Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground”(Joshua 4:21).
Likewise, our local cenotaphs serve as sign posts to future generations of the journeys our Canadian soldiers have taken. Let us be intentional about gathering as a community to remember those who have fallen from the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War and all those who continue to serve in the Afghanistan conflict and peacekeeping missions.
May the words of the local preacher Thomas E. Hammond of Atwood inspire our hearts and stir our memories to recollect the sacrifices paid for our freedom:
“Brave fellows, fight and bleed and die
In foreign fields their bodies lie
And though they may never return
Within true hearts must surely burn,
Undying love for those who gave
Their lives our liberties to save
And for the many battling still
Their duty nobly to fulfill
-The gallant volunteers.”
“Brave Volunteers” written in May 20, 1915
Rev. Andrew P. Thompson
Atwood Presbyterian church
Atwood, Ontario
(excerpts and references can be found in “Letter From Overseas,” compiled by George Russell, Listowel, Ontario, 1995. Listowel Public Library Archives, Listowel, Ontario).