Every year, the number of those who served in our Great Wars grows smaller, and the anniversary numbers commemorating significant victories grow larger. Which means we grow ever more distant from the horror of global conflict that the generations before us faced.

But that doesn’t mean we should forget.

Each November 11, as we pin poppies to our breasts and stop for a silent moment to remember the fallen, we hear words like ‘courage’ and ‘valour’ as names like Vimy Ridge, Dieppe, Passchendaele and Normandy ring though the air. But do they continue to have meaning for those who were never called on to serve, or to support a loved one who served?

A review of recent world events in Egypt, Libya and even the public riots in London and Greece suggest that the lessons of our forefathers are indeed fading. How else can you explain the violent brutality that seems to be fomenting under the surface of our modern, civilized daily life?

As the number of our Great War vets grow fewer, the onus is on us to extend that moment of thought we spend on them each fall to hearing their stories and really learning the lessons they hold. Time, after all, waits for no man – and at this point is growing short for many of them.

Locally, the Royal Canadian Legion branches in Lynden and Waterdown are planning a full program of cenotaph services, starting at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, November 11.

Please be sure to be there.