Dear editor,
Nov. 11 is Remembrance Day.
It is a day when Canadians of all different walks of life remember veterans past and present, deceased injured or forgotten. This could mean a special neighbor who served and gave his life with the merchant navy. It could be a parent who served with an international police force as a member of the RCMP.
There are also allied veterans, war service veterans, and Canadian
Forces veterans.
Last but by no means least are the families and survivors of the
veterans we know. Oftentimes the survivors and families are forgotten as the time passes from a sad tragedy that may have befallen them.
I think this Remembrance Day I will also be thinking of those families which have made the ultimate sacrifice. They are the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, daughters and sons and spouses who give our veterans a country in which to take pride.
Without these families, we as veterans would not have the strength and courage we need to deploy on a regular basis. Our families are the glue which keeps the fighting troops cohesive.
Travel on any mission, after a gruelling sortie, and many veterans are found writing letters, looking at pictures and on the phone home
to their support infrastructure. Their families are truly remarkable for self-sacrifice in the highest order.
Our troops are the best in the world and they are supported by the best families in the world.
Those forces that come home are met at the bases and airports countrywide by the special people in their lives. These people travel from posting to posting with our veterans, at great personal loss. Children moved from their friends. Empty-nester parents without their children for the first time get excited when the veteran posted
across the country with news that she is coming home for leave. Veterans Week can be seen by many, including this author, as a time to pay our respects for those of the veterans who pay the ultimate sacrifice in service of Canada. For the rest of the year, it's the families that have to continue life and honor their loved one — and they do.
We owe you all a great deal.
Alan G. Livsey,
Comox Valley