I have noticed with a feeling of sadness that over the years Cayman Islands Day of Remembrance is not as important as it should be.

Notable absentee over the last few years has been the premier.

I have to ask the question, if the Queen of England and the Prime Minister of the UK are always present at the London Whitehall Cenotaph failing illness, why does Premier McKeeva Bush keep missing it? How high up is it in his List of Things I Must Do?

And if he thinks no one notices and doesn’t make mention of it he should think again. Standing there at the Memorial in the grounds of Elmslie Memorial Church the question, “Where is the premier?” was asked again and again.

The question I raised at the start of my Editorial I will answer and I hope EVERONE reads this.

We must remember. If we do not, the sacrifice of those thousands and thousands of lives will be meaningless. They died for us, for their homes and families and friends, for a collection of traditions they cherished and a future they believed in; they died for their countries. The meaning of their sacrifice rests with our collective national consciousness; our future is their monument.

The above was taken (and slightly altered) from the Veterans Affairs Canada website and it touched a chord with me. I unashamedly reproduce part of it here with a few alterations so it applies to all of us. Every word is true.

These wars touched the lives of people of all ages, all races, all social classes. Fathers, sons, daughters, sweethearts: they were killed in action, they were wounded, and thousands who returned were forced to live the rest of their lives with the physical and mental scars of war. The people who stayed behind also served – in factories, in voluntary service organisations, wherever they were needed.

Yet for many of us, war is a phenomenon seen through the lens of a television camera or a journalist’s account of fighting in distant parts of the world. Our closest physical and emotional experience may be the discovery of wartime memorabilia in a family attic. But even items such as photographs, uniform badges, medals, and diaries can seem vague and unconnected to the life of their owner. For those of us born during peacetime, all wars seem far removed from our daily lives.

We often take for granted our Homelands values and institutions, our freedom to participate in cultural and political events, and our right to live under a government of our choice. The many who went off to war in distant lands went in the belief that the values and beliefs enjoyed by those back home were being threatened. They truly believed that “Without freedom there can be no ensuring peace and without peace no enduring freedom.”

By remembering their service and their sacrifice, we recognise the tradition of freedom these men and women fought to preserve. They believed that their actions in the present would make a significant difference for the future, but it is up to us to ensure that their dream of peace is realised. On Remembrance Day, we acknowledge the courage and sacrifice of those who served their country and acknowledge our responsibility to work for the peace they fought hard to achieve.

During times of war, individual acts of heroism occur frequently; only a few are ever recorded and receive official recognition. By remembering all who have served, we recognise their willingly-endured hardships and fears, taken upon themselves so that we could live in peace.

War has always meant death, destruction, and absence from loved ones. But in the initial surge of patriotic fervour, these play a secondary role. For the men and women who rally to support their nation’s cause, the threats of war seem far away and unreal.

Even while immersed in the brutality of the war, some men take time to question the forces that bring the hostility between countries to such terrible ends, and to ask whether life can ever return to normal. Donald Pearce wrote these words from a front line dugout:

When will it all end? The idiocy and the tension, the dying of young men, the destruction of homes, of cities, starvation, exhaustion, disease, children parentless and lost….

Formal records tell us about the size and strength of armies, military strategy, and the outcome of battles. Such information is vital, yet to fully appreciate military history we must try to understand the human face of war. Loss of comrades, extreme living conditions, intense training, fear, as well as mental, spiritual and physical hardship helps illuminate what the individual sailor, soldier and airman experienced in battle.

Poppies are worn as the symbol of remembrance, a reminder of the blood-red flower that still grows on the former battlefields of France and Belgium. During the terrible bloodshed of the second Battle of Ypres in the spring of 1915, Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, a doctor serving with the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, wrote of these flowers, which lived on among the graves of dead soldiers:

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

The flowers and the larks serve as reminders of nature’s ability to withstand the destructive elements of war by men, a symbol of hope in a period of human despair.

In many countries, traditionally the poppies, which we wear were made by disabled Veterans. They are reminders of those who died while fighting for peace: we wear them as reminders of the horrors of conflict and the preciousness of the peace they fought hard to achieve The flowers and the larks serve as reminders of nature’s ability to withstand the destructive elements of war by men, a symbol of hope in a period of human despair.

One day every year, we pay special homage to those who died in service to their country. We remember these brave men and women for their courage and their devotion to ideals. We wear poppies, attend ceremonies, and visit memorials. For one brief moment of our life, we remember why we must work for peace every day of the year.

To read the whole article please go to:

http://veterans.gc.ca/eng/history/other/remember/why

Whoever is Cayman islands premier in 2013, I hope he/she remembers why he/she MUST be in attendance. People gave up their lives so YOU can be free. Free to attend. Free to make your own mind up. Just FREE!!