Remembrance Day

I've just gotten back in Theatre after a little leave granted to each us to make up for the fact that there are no 'days off' here.  I went on 'R&R' - a now civilianized term that came from the military, meaning: 'Rest and Recuperation'.  Now that I've had some time off - I'm back here in Afghanistan and back to work.  I will tell you a bit about my R&R in future posts, if you want.    Today is Remembrance Day.  I'm sure most of you remembered.  When I was a kid the day used to be a day off from work and school.  The purpose was that so people could go to the Cenotaph and take some time to remember and thank the vets.  As the crowds dwindled, and less people seemed to care, I suppose this was the reason the day off was made into a regular work / school day.   Here in Theatre the day does mean something to us.  There were small parades and ceremonies everywhere.  Obviously, we can't shut the base down, so the small gatherings were necessary.  I went to Holy Mass where we remembered.  The day is cool - even cold here.  People are now sporting jackets.  The cold reminded me of Remembrance Day ceremonies in the past where I have stood freezing in the cold, damp Canadian November air.  many of us here were disappointed that we all weren't able to gather as a whole to attend a Remembrance Day ceremony.  Back at home I recall people who are travelling through Canada showing up at armouries with their uniform on a coat hanger, requesting permisio to join in with our unit, so they could pay respects.  The question is - what do we remember?  The thought has been in the back of my mind - especially being here.  I wrote a short letter which was intended to be read at the DLS Remembrance Day ceremony.  I don't know if it was.  Anyhow - I attach some excerpts of the letter.  These were just some thoughts of what came across my mind when I tried to come to terms with what the day meant to me.  I have altered the letter slightly so it can be posted.   -----------------------------------------------------------   Dear Brother, Brothers, Fellow Staff, Cadets and Students:   Since I cannot be there for Remembrance Day, I have asked that this letter be read so that I may stand together with you in spirit and in prayer at this assembly.   It's been quite some time since I departed the halls of our College to come and serve here in Afghanistan.  I truly miss being at the College and the joy of being with all of you in the halls and the classrooms of our school.  I am grateful to all of you who have been keeping me and my comrades in your thoughts and prayers.  I also am thankful for the messages sent to me by some of you to cheer me up and to keep in touch.  Believe me when I say - your prayers are felt in the blessings that Our Lord has granted me of safety and comfort, and in the countless ways of Our loving Lord that I may never know.   Over the past months I have been witness to the sending home of the remains of every Canadian, and many of the coalition soldiers that have fallen in battle during my time here.  During the ramp ceremonies, the caskets are carried by the soldiers who most closely served with the fallen while the chaplain, after saying a prayer, reads a short eulogy of the soldier's life.  What makes the death of anyone in this manner so sorrowful is in remembering the life that was cut short so suddenly.  While looking at the faces of those carrying our comrade to the aircraft for the final journey home, I see in their tear filled eyes the genuine pain and sorrow for the loss of their friend; many who through experiences unique to them have become brothers with the one lost.  Observing them, I am struck at how young some of them are, and how I could imagine many of them in a school uniform cheerfully wandering the upper hall where our Grade 12's walk from class to class.  Many of those who take on the responsibility of the defence of our country are not much older than the students in our College.  At this, the cost of the lives lost becomes painfully sharp at the realization of the price of life being paid.   What we are asked to remember today is not death, but rather, the life of the ones who have given themselves for the cause made on behalf of the country as a whole.  We use speech with words such as the dead having made 'the supreme sacrifice'.  The sacrifice they have made is that of their own lives - risking in harms way ever being able to experience once again happy times spent with family and friends, with children and loved ones.  Those who wear our country's uniform were and are willing to lose all for the sake of service to our country, and the defence of fighting for a cause that hopefully may benefit humanity in itself.  It is also the sacrifice of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children... to watch their loved ones go off to war - bravely choking back tears while putting on a smile and a brave face.  They hold their loved one a single last time with trembling arms and tear filled eyes before they watch their loved one leave - all the time wondering if they will ever see them again.  They too sacrifice in risking the chance that they may never see that loved one ever again in the flesh with their own eyes, or never again hold them alive in their own arms.  Everyone knows the reality and the danger of war.   On this Remembrance Day, please recall to mind that while the sacrifice made is for the country as a whole - somehow that sacrifice is made directly for each one of us individually.  It is the duty of the living to remember the cost of the peace we enjoy and the willingness of those who gave up the happiness of their futures so that we may live it.  By their sacrifice we are indebted to them and owe them gratitude and fulfilling the promise that we will never forget who they are and what they gave up for us.  Please never forget that there are now families - some of who may even be your neighbour - who have lost loved ones.  There are families who now have loved ones injured and maimed through the violence of the conflict we are involved in.  These families will never be able to live through a Remembrance Day without the broken hearts spurned by the thoughts of their loved one and a future of what might have been.   The poet Laurence Binyon reminds us of the sacrifice made as he wrote:   'They shall not grow old, as we who are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning; We will remember them.'   Please bow your heads - Let us pray: 'Lord, we pray for all service members of the Canadian Forces and their civilian support, especially those deployed and in harms way: That they may complete their duty with honour.  When duty is honourably complete, may they know joyful reunion with their loved ones.' -Let us pray to the Lord Lord Hear our Prayer   'Lord, we also pray especially for those families who shall never experience the happiness in this life of their loved one returning to them from war: that they may find solace in Our Lord's most loving will, and that they may be reunited with their loved ones in the everlasting joy of Heaven.' -Let us pray to the Lord Lord Hear our Prayer   For those who have given their lives so that others may live in peace: 'Eternal Rest, Grant unto them O Lord, and may Perpetual Light shine upon them. may they Rest in Peace. Amen.'   Thank you once again for your continued prayers and support you are giving to your Canadian Forces deployed overseas.  I continue to keep you all in my daily prayers, and I look forward to the days I may once again wander the halls and classrooms of our school.   God Bless,   Captain Nonato