The following remarks were presented by Pelham Mayor Marvin Junkin at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 613, Fonthill, during their Remembrance Day commemoration on November 11 2023.
Good morning everyone. Always great to see so many residents take time out of their busy lives to take part in this ceremony. A sincere thank you to everyone at 613 for doing the work to make this local ceremony happen, giving the community a place to gather.
And of course a special thank you to all that are present that have served and are presently serving in our armed forces. This ceremony is about you.
In the previous years when I have had the honour to speak at this ceremony, I have always used my own words to convey my thoughts and gratitude to our veterans.
This year I’m going to quote a veteran who fought in World War I to remind us how senseless and devastating the reality of war is. His thoughts appear in a book entitled My Grandfather’s War.
My Grandfather’s War, by William D. Mathieson
The Wreckage of War
I am attached to battalion headquarters, my duties being to aid in carrying ammunition to the front and help the wounded to the rear. For the better part of a month, day and night, I see a continuous stream of tens of thousands of wounded men pouring back from the front line to the little dressing stations in the rear, sheltered by sandbags.
From that inferno they come, battered wrecks of humanity. Limping along, they are supported by others, some, with heads swathed with bloody bandages, others blinded, led by those can see. Legless men, barely alive, are borne by stretcher bearers. Some do not survive the trip. The battered burdens are deposited at the dressing station and stretcher bearers go back. I am reminded of an assembly line in one of the Detroit’s automobile factories, as the ceaseless procession comes from the front, the difference being that one was a process of construction, this one of destruction.
In the dressing stations the surgeons work ceaselessly. A few deft strokes of a knife and a shattered leg is amputated, and the stump quickly bandaged. The victim is loaded in an ambulance with other war wrecks and the way he goes to a hospital—a cripple.The war is over for him.
Here lies a lumberjack from Canada, whose skill depended on his strong arms. His right arm, shattered and torn, is beyond saving. Off it comes. No more will he bury the blade of his axe into a tree and send it crashing to the earth. Here's a poor devil who will never see again. Here's one with both legs hopelessly shattered.
Is there no end to them? Many of those going to the front this morning will be borne back tonight, battered and war-torn wrecks. And many will not come back at all.
Though I have a little time for meditation, I cannot help but think what the hell of a thing war is, as I see the wrecks of those who have gone through the hopper. Motor ambulances, loaded with their burdens, stream back to the base hospitals, thousands of them with their cargo of suffering. Long lines of railway cars take back the wreckage of war and still they come.
Powerful words.
Regrettably, as we’ve seen over recent years and months, both in Eastern Europe and in the Middle East, war remains a global problem. The Canadian men and women who have served and are serving in our armed forces continue to protect Canadian values and our way of life, and by fulfilling this role at whatever the cost, deserve our respect and gratitude.
The debt we owe these individuals for their sacrifices is unrepayable, and must be remembered on this day of all days. Please accept our sincere thank you for answering the call to defend Canada against threats to our democratic freedoms.