What Will You
Contemplate?
(Excerpts from a writing by Paul Berton…
Editor-in-chief of The Hamilton Spectator)
When Hamiltonians gather at
cenotaphs, at Legion Halls, at Community Centres, at the Canadian Warplane Heritage
Museum or in the quiet solitude across the city to mark the event, what will we
think about? Each of us thinks of
Remembrance Day differently.
Will Hamiltonians and Canadians
think of their ancestors
who served or current relatives and friends in the
service?
Will we wonder why the killing
persists almost a century
after “the war to end all wars” ended and Remembrance
Day was first recognized?
Will we think about war or
peace?
About Canadian soldiers at Vimy, Dieppe, Kapyong, Kosovo or Kandahar?
Will we think about winners
and losers? Friends or enemies? Life or death?
November 11...to be
sure, is a time of
remembrance,
reflections and appreciation.
Sack Lunches...A
Good Samaritan Gesture
I put my carry-on in the luggage
compartment and sat down in my assigned seat.
It was going to be a long flight.
“I'm glad I have a good book to read.
Perhaps I will get a short nap,” I thought.
Just before take-off, a line of
soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding
me. I decided to start a conversation.
“Where are you headed?” I asked
the soldier seated nearest to me.
“Petawawa. We'll be there for two
weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Afghanistan.”
After flying for about an hour,
an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five
dollars. It would be several hours
before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the
time.
As I reached for my wallet, I
overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he
planned to buy lunch. “No, that seems
like a lot of money for just a sack
lunch. Probably it wouldn't be
worth five bucks. I'll wait until I get
to base.” His friend agreed.
I looked around at the other
soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed
the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill.
“Take a lunch to all those
soldiers.” She grabbed my arms and
squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with
tears, she thanked me. “My son was a
soldier in Iraq;
its almost like you're doing it for him.”
Picking up ten sacks, she headed
up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated.
She stopped at my seat and asked,
“Which do you like best ~ beef or chicken?”
“Chicken,” I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of the
plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. “This is your thanks.”
After we finished eating, I went
again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. “I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.” He handed me twenty-five dollars.
Soon after I returned to my seat,
I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking for the aisle numbers
as he walked. I hoped he was not looking
for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the
plane. When he got to my row, he
stopped, smiled, held out his hand and said, “I want to shake your hand.” Quickly unfastening my seat belt, I stood and
took the Captain's hand. With a booming
voice he said, “I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never
forgot.” I was embarrassed when applause
was heard from all the passengers.
Later, I walked to the front of
the plane so I could stretch my legs. A
man who was seated about six rows in front of me, reached out his hand, wanting
to shake mine. He left another
twenty-five dollars in my palm.
When we landed, I gathered my
belongings and started to deplane.
Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something
in my shirt pocket, turned and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!
Upon entering the terminal, I saw
the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. “It will take you some time to reach the
base. It will be about time for a
sandwich. God Bless You!”
Ten young men left that flight
feeling the love and respect of their
fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a
prayer for their safe return. These
soldiers were giving their all for our country.
I could only give them a couple meals.
It seemed so little!
(Author Unknown)
A Veteran is someone,
who at one point in his life, wrote a blank cheque
made payable to “The United
States of America”
for an amount of “up to and including my life.”
That is Honour
and there are way too many people in this country
who no longer understand it … or even care!
(Author Unknown)
Merle
Baird-Kerr...crafted February 17, 2013
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