Remembrance Day with Michael Blois | 100th Anniversary
#AskMichaelBlois
This Sunday, at the 11th hour, will be the 100th anniversary of the end of the first World War. It is a time for all Canadians to reflect on those who bravely answered the call to arms. Of those who answered, approximately 200 were lawyers and 300 were students-at-law from Ontario. These privileged persons volunteered for service, casting off their robes for military uniforms, leaving behind the comforts of their practise’s and of their home’s; of these brave men, 113 would never return. In the great library, at Old Osgoode Hall, stands the memorial to these brave men who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
When I think about the above, I marvel at the bravery and sacrifice those men made. Myself a veteran with the Royal Canadian Regiment, having fought in Afghanistan, I understand, to an extent, what those men faced daily for those 4 years. I can relate to the physical pain, the cold, the stress and horrors that one witnesses on the battlefield. I understand the loss of close friends and the emptiness it leaves you with. These brave men exchanged all the privileges that the practice of law may provide for these horrors of war.
We must ensure that future generations of Canadians do not lose sight of what all soldiers in our military, past and present, sacrifice daily to serve our Nation. We should look to our own lives and draw comparisons to teach our children what was asked of our Sons and Daughters in the First World War and all wars that followed. Our children must understand that Canadians from all walks of life fought and died to serve our Nation; be they plumber, doctor, accountant, truck driver, lawyer etc. They all left their lives behind and sadly many did not return; many more came home with wounds both physical and psychological.
For the wounded the war did not end when the cease fire was called on November 11th, 1918, for the injuries they have suffered would be with them the rest of their lives. The cost of the freedom that we enjoy is paid daily by those who suffer the physical and psychological traumas of war. For them, the war may never end.
This Remembrance Day, I ask that you take time to think of those in your field of work who volunteered to go to war, put yourself in their shoes. Imagine leaving your family, your home and the comforts of our great country to fight in the trenches of the First World War and you will begin to understand just how much was asked of our sons and daughters 104 years ago. I know I will be thinking of those lawyers and students-at-law that answered the call and especially of those who never returned home.