Wednesday, 14 November 2012

We Won't Forget


On Sunday, November 11, hundreds of people, old, young and in-between, stood at the Kentville cenotaph to solemnly remember.  Laying a wreath on behalf of the residents of Kings County was my first official duty.  Then a solemn procession of family members came forward to lay wreaths for their own loved ones.



Each year brings change to yet another family of a veteran.  Time, like soldiers, marches on.  Fathers, mothers, grandmothers and grandfathers who served die.  This year my daughter-in-law Monique Harvie’s beloved grandfather Frank Harvie died.  She and her sister Nicole laid a wreath in his memory. I was honoured to attend the ceremony in their company along with Edna, Frank’s widow.



All of our WWI veterans are now gone, but we are still blessed to have some WWII veterans with us. Their presence at cenotaph brings the reality of war into a sharper, more personal focus.  They represent, in person, the generation that sacrificed, survived, died and were scarred by the horror of it all.

To them we promise that when they are gone, as all the WWI vets now are: “We won’t forget.” The work of each elected representative is possible because of the democracy you protected on our behalf. When I sit at the council table I will remain ever mindful of the privilege you extended to me, and to all of us, to participate in a living, breathing democracy.

No comments:

Post a Comment