Lest We Forget.

Sixteen days into the trip... nearly ten major memorials and countless cemeteries later... we have most definetly remembered those who gave their lives in the name of freedom during World War One. Yet what about those who survived? Those that lost a limbs and senses, their bodies fractured. Would it have been a better alternative to die in the war, than come home broken?

In the midst of our solemn rememberance of those who gave their lives, have we forgotten about those who returned?

We see monuments to the missing, cemeteries to the dead. In fact, we see graves commemorating German soldiers here in Allied Countries even though they were the horrors the Allies faced! Yet where are the 'megaliths' to the living?

Over 600,000 Canadian men and women served in the first World War, and just over 60,000 died. Approximately 170,000 more men and women were wounded. (Thank you Wikipedia). After doing the math, that means that only about 1/10 of the serving Canadians in World War One actually died. Yet the majority of our attention goes to the 1/10.

What about the rest?

When was the last time we commemorated the soldiers who did not have to pay the ultimate price? Remembrance day is the closest I can remember. Yet even with that, my thoughts always stray to pictures of men dying in a hail of gunfire. What about the men who died of the wounds at home. Bearing in mind the strict rules of the Commonwealth Graves Commission when it comes to soldiers who died in Europe stay in Europe, these men who died at home... stay at home. Apart from the men they fought next to, and in some cases watched die. It sometimes makes you wonder, was the ultimate price dying for your country, to forever be remembered as a hero who gave his life? Or is the ultimate price laying down your life, yet fate lets you live. You return home and fade into the background. You become the old man down the street that is grouchy and pass away in your sleep. You are buried amongst the other civilians of your town with no memorials or monoliths to mark your resting place. An ordinary man with a forgotten past.

The next time you think about those who lost their lives in the first World  War. Do not forget those who lived.

Lest we forget.

-Michael Cantwell