The Goderich Signal-Star, 1971-11-18, Page 23N
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SIGN
12.40,YEAR - 46 , THURSDAY,
NOVEMBER 18, 1971
THIRD SECTION
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um.— remembered by all
Once again the strains of the
2..30„ si o.51t 14010ne�d : ross�..the...,
Court House ' park and, voices
joined in traditional hymns df
"-Unto the Hills Around. Do I
Lift Up" and "Faith of our
Fathers." •
In a service arranged by the
Coderich Ministerial' ssoiation
and Branch .109 of, the Royal
Canadian Legion, veterns of two
world conflicts paraded to the
Coderich cenotaph and paid
yearly respect to the memory of
those who go . t` their lives in the
defence of t eir country and•the
freedom of others.
As with each passing year the
ranks of those who survived the
great • wars• of modern history
grow, thinner and the memoryof
tt -far--off .ba_tt1e- fi tdsn v
Vertia-PrE lita dimmer.:`" :;•
With each ` passing
--- Remembrance Day the number'
of those attending the services
who : had . friends' or relatives
involved, or who even remember
the years of conflict, grow fewer
as well. The attitudes and
atmosphere at November 11
services are quickl changing.
The "last - post," and
"Reveille" to many now are just
trumpet sounds heard on this
occasion once each year, or
perhaps in a movie. The words
of those faithful hymns, so
familiar to those who lived
through those troublesome days,
become somehow rather
abstract.
The reality of 1939-45 and
1914-18 for many does not exist
- in 1971, but the yearly reminder
of what those years did to
families, young. men anal whole
nations remains with increasing
importance to a new generation
who have finally begun to realize
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A moi*ent of remembrance
�110 .040E'''
Veterans, remember
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ay cr, • .- ;+V: y ,r
Musi.c,_.by the Goderic
horror of war. •
Laji'ingthe wreaths
This new ,generation is a
product of that w. r. Parents
who- fought an the battlefields
of Europe, or spent years. -t
home living .in fear of that
terrible notification from the
war department, have in some
way given birth to a generation
e who fear and even hate war.
Now 'Remembrance Day
holds two distinct meanings. For
those "Old Sweats" it is a
reminder of those months in the
' mud and trenches and those
comrades who died in the horror
o' gas, moderh weapons and all
that,*ent with the'"Great War."
It reminds them of the days they
went off to war in eager
.•ex'pectations of a few quick
battles and a triumphant return
' home that turned into months
Of mud stalled stalemate and an
indecisive victory. - ,
For those who came, back
from "World War Twc' .there
are ,.the brutal memories of
battles spanning six years that
claimed the best' men Europe
and North America could offer
and sent others home to life in
hospital or as cripples, Those
who 'come out on November 11
ind-ed remember.
'Those of us who go and hear
those time-- honored phrases
speaking' of the great sacrifice
are left with the alternative of
just thinking. We wqe born in
prosperous post war years. Years
of relative peace and of grea4t
. ^ social and economic advances
when the memories of two
world wars began to fade in the
face of a changing and busy new
world.
We do think, however, of
those who died, although for
, any the reasons behind any
war 'seem often 'a little abstract.
We do think of uncles and
grandfathers who missed the
opportunity to raise a family as
our fathers did, because of a
M war.
When the, 'Padre leads in
prayer we, too, bow our heads.
He speaks of the sacrifice of
fallen friends but our prayer is
much simpler, "God please di'n't
..tet,i,, ee p of . nation be.'.so •
• st i 1 '`as 't6'trvee'k..WA: it- 8p' leWr "'A j*i'. f
again." { , • ,
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The ,Legion on parade
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cis