Lest I Forget

You would have thought from that last post that only my mother's family enlisted. That is not true. It just happens that my mother's family talks more about it's past. My father's family is less open and has a greater spread in age. 

It's weird to think that in World War 1 my grandfather would have been considered too old to enlist even though he was in his 30's. At the time life expectancy would have been about 60. By the time WW2 came my father's oldest brother was eligible and enlisted right away. He however never left Canada, spending the war working at a supply depot in the maritimes. This was a vital and necessary job yet unless you were a 'fighting man' there seemed to be less honour in it. My uncle never spoke of his enlisted time but I often wonder how these people who sent supplies, mail and people, often to their doom, felt. They were also the ones who handled the mail to loved ones and the death notices.

My father's next older brother managed to enlist at the age of 16 by being extremely tall and lying about his age. He was trained and waiting in Halifax, within a week of sailing to Britain, when the war ended. Again, because he never fought on he field of battle he didn't consider himself a veteran. 

The fact that they were willing to enlist, to fight and possibly die in a faraway country for their country and ideals makes them worthy of respect and admiration. I wish they were around for me to thank.

My father was not even 10 when the war started. His father passed when he was little. He never fought but he did what many families did, he along with my grandmother, supported the war effort on the home front. One of the things he did as an adult, and continues doing to this day, is support the local Legion. Yes, that does mean going down and having a few with the boys, but it also means volunteering to help with fundraising, spending money at fundraisers, helping vets get to appointments or simple to get groceries. Even in his seventies, he remembers what it was like at home during and after the war. The damage that was inflicted and the support that was needed and continues to be needed. 

Care, Attention and Support. They will always be needed by those who serve and by the families that let them.