Young Islanders remember

Annual conflict about holidays

As November 11th and the day of Remembrance approaches, most Canadians make plans to head to the Legion and pay their respects, but the month of November is not purely poppies and wreaths. Every year we face this conflict. Is it OK to deck the halls before the Last Post has rung out its final notes?

It has become a yearly tradition to not only pay our respects to those who fought for our country, but to scrutinize those who seem all too merry all too soon. But is it right for us to judge someone for something as silly as a premature Christmas decoration?

Just years ago Souris Tim Hortons had to halt sales of and waste a certain product, all to please angry customers that claimed selling such a product was an act of disrespect. The item in question: the snowflake cookie; a simple sugar cookie with white and blue snowflake sprinkles. Does this simple treat really constitute that kind of pestering?

The winter season doesn’t officially start till Dec. 21, but this year the snow started falling in October, so should a snowflake be directly paired with Christmas or simply the fall/winter season? It seems quite obvious that this was not an act of disrespect but simply a business selling the product they had in stock for the season on the date pre-established by the company.

Maybe we should have a little more leniency when it comes to the Remembrance day/ Christmas debacle.

Grace Robertson,

Souris Regional,

Grade 12

Taking freedoms for granted

This Remembrance Day will mark 100 years since the end of the First World War, and I am urging people to not only honour our soldiers but also not let their sacrifice go in vain.

Almost two years ago I was given the opportunity to travel to Europe for the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, and it was not until I found myself standing in the same trenches where so much life was lost that I realized how much more there was to remembering than posters and assemblies once a year.

There were real people, not much older than myself, that had suffered day and night for the freedom we often take for granted today. The fact that we are all here with the ability to fight for what we believe in something we should be thankful for every day.

Through their sacrifice we have been given the opportunity to do better for our future and make sure the tragedies of the past are not repeated. As Canadians, we are not done fighting for our country, even if it is not in the same ways that have been prevalent in our history.

It is critically important to take time to remember our soldiers, but if we really want to honour their sacrifice it’s time to let their bravery inspire us every day as we work to build a better and more accepting society, without conforming to humanities violent tendencies.

Beth MacDonald,

Grade 12,

Souris Regional School

Tradition continues

With Remembrance Day coming up, I feel like this is an opportune time to write and remind readers to attend their local services this November 11th, which marks the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I.

Growing up it has always been a tradition in my family to attend the ceremony in my hometown of Truro, N.S. and take the hour or so each year to pay our respects to all veterans and serving members. This may, in part, be due to my family’s history of service with members who have served from WWII to present day, including more recent conflicts such as Bosnia. Whatever the reason, I knew that it was a sacred yearly tradition to be observed.

As I grew older I took in interest in history and learned more about the battles our veterans fought, gaining more respect for them after reading the accounts of what they had gone through. At the age of 12, I joined my local Army Cadet corps and paraded on Remembrance Day, taking an active part in the ceremony for the first time.

In the following years I continued to parade and even had the opportunity to meet with veterans and families as I helped with the wreath laying during the ceremony. Once again, this experience helped to increase my respect and reinforce the importance of this yearly tradition as these once young men made their way slowly to lay a wreath of remembrance.

Although not a cadet anymore I still make sure to take part in the ceremony every year, whether attending by myself or with my family. Although it began as something which forced me to endure the cold each November 11th because my parents brought me, it has evolved into a lifelong tradition out of respect for all veterans from past conflicts and currently serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces. I hope this will also readers to come out and attend your local service. Geoff Mills,

UPEI student

Understanding both sides in war

In 1919, a year after the conclusion World War One, Remembrance Day was officiated as an annual tradition across the nations of the Commonwealth. Due to the sacrifices made by our veterans, Remembrance Day is a holiday which we should have an obligation to attend and uphold, because if it wasn’t for them, Canada may not be a country anymore. But the act of remembrance is not something that is morally exclusive only to us Canadians.

What I mean by this is that, in every nation, individuals just like you and I give their life to their nation in order to protect and preserve its people and values, regardless of the political motives behind the establishment.

Despite the brutal, authoritarian regime which constituted the advent of Nazi Germany, the German people were nonetheless, by-and-large, not-so-different than us. As a matter of fact, Germans are one of the largest ethnic groups in Canada. And just like Canadians, the German people were brave enough to go to war to support their country.

Of course, the Germans were the ones who put Hitler in power, and we obviously all know what has become of that, but I see it as imperative to understand both sides of history; Germany’s inflation and unemployment rates were skyrocketing, further compounding the social issues of the day.

War, history and morality are very complex and often controversial topics, but a soldier’s sacrifice to their nation is an honourable act, no matter what nation they served. In the end, everyone must remember, and all must be remembered, because if not, history will repeat itself. Tanner MacPhail,

Souris Regional