Tomorrow is Remembrance Day. A principal once told me he didnt want to ‘do’ a Remebrance Day event because he didnt want to glorify war, and the old war stories of a bunch of old guys.
When my dad was finally able to wear his medals earned as a Merchant Marine servicing the lifeline to the front, after many years of embarrassment at how his own government treated this group of sailors, he was so proud to ‘celebrate’ Remembrance Day. Not to celebrate old war stories but to celebrate the contribution and sacrifice of so many men and women, including the women who maintained homes (and the economy in general) back home. To celebrate the sacrifice of parents who watched their children heading off to war, unsure of whether they would return to them or their own families. I cant imagine how horrible it must have been for those soldiers and sailors who returned to find that ‘significant others’ had moved on. I am certain a lot of what we now know is ptsd was mitigated by the warm acceptance of warriors by their loved ones. So many people gave so much for a unified effort against the known evil and for a better future.
I could not believe the attitude of that principal.
I was also surprised by Dad late in his life, though I should not have been when he showed me the poem ‘A Sailor’s Grave’. We often hear and recite the wonderful poem, ‘In Flanders Fields’, but sailors are much easier to forget because they have nothing to mark where they are ‘buried’. So, for my dad and all the other sailors that may not be remembered quite the same way;
A Sailor’s Grave
By: Glen V. Ruff
Poppies grow in Flander’s Field
Over the heads of the brave.
But Poppies don’t cover a sailor’s grave
Flowers won’t grow on a wave.
On land there is usually a marker
A cross, a stone, or a tree.
How do you mark the resting place
of the ones who are buried at sea?
They are no less the fallen
Than the others interred on the land.
Though their graves are unadorned
The seamen will understand.
They chose to sail the oceans
They knew where the danger lies
And if tragedy ever happens
The sea claims the sailor who dies.
On Remembrance Day there are a lot of different people to celebrate and honour. It took an effort with a level of purpose that I can’t imagine would be possible now. Let’s remember the men and women all over the planet that were a part of it with an eye to protect the future; our present. Including the sailors!
Fall 2022
In going through memories since, I found a poem my father penned…a pretty deep reflection and a tiny sense of the horror this gentle soul dealt with throughout his post-war life. He never talked about the war much, partially because of the bitterness he felt about his governement’s treatment, but also about the horror and fear he lived through.
‘And our thoughts will alway be your home.’ Bob Rae
untitled, Bob Rae, ~1945
Please check the following out, as Ted Barris talks about his latest book, and tells the story of one Robert Rae and many other Canadian Merchant Mariners.
Ted Barris, author of “Battle of the Atlantic: Gauntlet to Victory” speaks with my favourite TV Journalist, Steve Paikin about his book, including Bob Rae, my dad, (referred to as Rob a couple times…). Ted talks about Dad specifically at 25:02 in this, but Ted is such a wonderful story teller, you should listen to the whole thing.
