The Last Post

November 01, 2009

At 8 p.m. every evening of the year in the Belgian town of Ypres, a small crowd gathers at the Menin Gate Memorial, standing in silence as a bugler plays The Last Post. The ceremony is in memory of the soldiers of the British Commonwealth who died during the Ypres Salient of the First World War and who have no known grave.

Ypres is a town almost totally destroyed in three years of battles lasting from 1914 to 1917. Students of Canadian history know that the battle of Passchendaele, one of the bloodiest in our history, was fought just outside Ypres. The names of 6,940 Canadians are inscribed on the Menin Gate. The last survivor of the battle, who was also the last surviving WWI soldier who had seen action in the trenches, Briton Harry Patch, died earlier this year, aged 111.

In Canada we are far removed from those Flanders fields that became a final resting place for so many brave Canadians. While Ypres remembers daily, we hear The Last Post once a year.

But on that one day a year, November 11 at 11 a.m., we take time to remember, to pay tribute to the more than two million Canadians who have served this country in uniform since Confederation, especially the more than 110, 000 of them who lie in foreign graves, forever young. By honouring them we show respect for their legacy: our country – our freedom.
Today Canadian soldiers are continuing that legacy, working to bring lasting peace and freedom to the war torn country of Afghanistan.
We will not forget. It may not be a daily event such as is held in Ypres, but I feel it is important we take the time to remember.
What do you think?