On Remembrance Day, we pay homage to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country. In more recent years, it has become a day to honour all those who have served their country, whether they died in war, or never experienced a day of combat in their lives.

It remains and always has been a bone of contention among a great number of veterans of the military service. I was fortunate enough to have had five friends who all served during the Second World War in one capacity or another. The very idea that they would be honoured for their service on a day when they themselves were remembering the comrades who never came home, was disconcerting to them, to say the least.

As Syd Davie, put it... “I volunteered and I knew what I was getting into. I never thought of myself as a hero then and I don’t now. We were there to do a job and to defend our families and our country. The real heroes are the fellas who never came home.”
I would always disagree, but I learned to keep my opinion of my friend and his selfless service which continued long after the war and after he had immigrated to Canada and became a member of the Lions, to myself.

I personally believe that Remembrance Day should be a time to honour all those who have served, both in time of war and in time of peace.

I also believe, like my friend Frank Stacey who is the Orléans Legion’s Veteran of the Year, that we should also take a moment during the Remembrance Day ceremonies to honour the families of military veterans who sacrificed as well. Especially the family members of those servicemen who never returned home. Many continue to suffer foir years after their loved one is gone.

So this Remembrance Day when you are taking a moment of silence, use that moment to silently thank all of the service men and women, both living and dead, as well as their family members, for their service. It’s the very least we can do.

We should also use the occasion to think about the conflicts that are currently going on in the world, where innocent non-combatants are either living through hell or have already perished.

I know I will be thinking of the people of Gaza, who have been caught between a rock, Hamas, and a hard place, Israel’s constant bombardment of their homes.

It’s hard to read reports like the most recent bombing of a five-storey apartment building in northern Gaza in which at least 93 Palestinians were killed, including more than 20 children. The Israeli Defence Force defended the air strike by stating that members of Hamas were using the residents as a shield. No doubt they were. It is a tactic used by terrorist groups for years. It was used by insurgents in Afghanistan and it was used by members of al-Qaeda in the battle for Aleppo in Syria.

But does eliminating a few Hamas members in an air strike justify killing 10 times that number of civilians, including children. I personally don’t think so, and I would hope that Canada would not use the same tactics if it was in the same situation.

As for the Israelis raid on the last remaining hospital in northern Gaza, basically shutting it down, it was either a necessary military tactic resulting in the surrender or death of over 80 terrorists according to the Jerusalam Post, or a war crime, according to witnesses in the hospital, including some journalists.

And while some people can defend and even justify the civilian casualties in these actions, it’s hard to defend denying medical care to whatever civilian population is still alive in Gaza. For all intent and purposes Gaza is borderline uninhabitable. There is no electricity. no fresh water and no sanitation system. Oh, and no end in sight.

While the rest of the world has been calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has turned his sights on Lebanon and Iran, threatening to turn what started out as a military operation against Hamas in Gaza into a much broader regional conflict.

You can be both anti-Hamas and anti-killing women and children and then calling them collateral damage. You can be both in support of Israel’s right to exist and the right for Palestinians to exist. You can be both anti-Netanyahu and pro-Israel. All of these concepts are mutually compatible, but whether or not they are mutually attainable is another question altogether.

As for this Remembrance Day, I have a lot to think about, I have a lot to be thankful for, and I have a lot of fond memories of friends who are no longer with us, but will always be my heroes whether they like the title or not.

(If you wish to comment on this or any other View Point column please write to Fred Sherwin at fsherwin@orleansstar.ca)