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Ad Rates / Articles / Classified Ads / Editorial / Home / Links / Showtime   Remembrance is more than one day a year    List Roy Bassett Next   Remembrance is more than one day a year By Roy Bassett Remembrance Day comes but once a year, but throughout Canada, the United States and other allied countries there are numerous daily reminders of battles won.   Over the decades, cities, towns and villages have erected memorials to their local heroes for them to be remembered each and every day.   They have named streets, highways, parks, buildings and other public services in honour of those who have served in battle.   A section of Highway 401 between Trenton and Toronto has been renamed the Highway of Heroes and a stretch of Hwy. 35 north of Lindsay has been named the Midland Regiment Commemorative Highway.   And in late September, two new parks in Calgary were named Valour and Victoria Cross to honour the sacrifices of Canadians during World War 2. The park includes images of heroes from the war.   Reminders are everywhere we go.   During a visit to Florida in February and March, I spent many hours visiting memorials to U.S. service men and women. It appears no expense was spared as many were in the form of an entire park, usually with an aircraft on a pedestal.   We witnessed the humanitarian side of American forces personnel when a massive C-5 Galaxy and other aircraft were used to airlift thousands of survivors of the Jan. 13 earthquake to the U.S., many in need of medical care.   Over 50% of the evacuees were flown into Sanford Airport and then transported to several areas in Florida and throughout the U.S.   Just about everywhere you go in Florida, there are reminders that members of the U.S. military are on duty in foreign lands, some fighting while many others are assisting in disaster areas.   In many instances, there are reminders that Canadian military personnel are also in those same lands, shoulder to shoulder with the U.S. military.   Many years ago, and even today, most monuments in Canada have paid tribute to the war dead, i.e. WW1, WW2, Korea etc., but recently we have seen evidence of all military personnel being remembered for their part in the war against terrorism.   This was evident on my visit to Florida, where most memorials included recognition to all veterans, no matter where they are serving.     One of my favorite memorials is Sanford Veterans Memorial Park, 47,000 square feet in size jutting out onto Lake Monroe. This park was built in 1924 and dedicated as a memorial to the war dead of WW1. It was rededicated in 1973 and renovated and rededicated in 2006. It is now a memorial to all residents from Seminole County who have served their country in the military.   This park is used by residents and visitors daily. On the days of my visits, there were numerous people there, some fishing, some reading the memorial plaques, some eating their lunch and others just sitting on one of the many benches or just walking around enjoying the surroundings.   The main memorial in the park is four-sided surmounted by an eagle. On each side is a quote from a famous American:   "A nation united can never be conquered" - Thomas Jefferson.   "Give me liberty or give me death" - Patrick Henry.   "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country" - John F. Kennedy.   "We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain" - Abraham Lincoln.   As you walk around this park, you cannot help but notice the hundreds and hundreds of individual plaques set in the ground naming a Seminole County military person killed in one of every military conflict since the start of the 20th century.   A few miles north of Sanford is the city of De Bary. By usual standards, this city is about the size of a small town, the citizens of which have dedicated a park to two local men who lost their lives, one in Viet Nam and the other by terrorists in 1996.   Charles Richard Beale, U.S, Army, was only 21 when killed in Viet Nam, and Brian McVeigh, Airman First Class, was killed in a terrorist attack on June 25, 1966, in Saudi Arabia.   The U.S. government donated an F15 aircraft, a tribute to McVeigh, and installed it in the middle of the park, which can be seen from the road adjacent to the park named after Charles Beale.   There is also a memorial to all servicemen missing in action and/or prisoners of war.   On one of the Sanford Veterans Memorial Park information displays, there is the story of the U.S. Purple Heart Medal awarded to all Americans killed or wounded in action.   In the Sept. 14, 2010, edition of our local Ontario newspaper, there was a photograph of Cpl. Chris Hartwell receiving the new Canadian Medal, which was instituted in August 2008.   The Sacrifice Medal is equivalent to the Purple Heart. Cpl, Hartwell was involved in three separate explosions in Afghanistan in 2008 sustaining leg, back and head injuries.   On November 11, when attending your local cenotaph, look for this medal and thank the one who wears it.   Since the Great War, we have assigned November 11 of each year to specially remember the sacrifices of all military personnel. Thousands of residents will attend their local cenotaphs on that day, all wearing the poppy, a badge of remembrance.   Remember, during the week or so leading up to November 11, buy a poppy from one of your local Legion members and wear it proudly to show your continued support for the Canadian Forces.   As Sir Winston Churchill said in an address to British Parliament in 1940 of the sacrifices made in battle: "Never in the field of human conflict, was so much owed by so many to so few."   It was a message to our allies and enemies that the sacrifice of members of the military should be recognized and remembered for all time.   At the time, Churchill was praising the Battle of Britain Fighter Pilots, but those words equally apply to all military personnel at all times, especially in the many conflicts of the 20th Century.   Photographs 1 - Veteran's Memorial Park in Sanford, Florida   2 - Overview of popular Veteran's Memorial Park   3 - Soldier's memorial plaque in De Bary, Florida   4 - Stretch of Ontario's Hwy. 401 named for the fallen   Roy Bassett is a veteran of the British Army (1950s) and a retired Toronto policeman. He can be reached at ninelancer@gmail.com     Return to top of page   This Is Livin' Publishing © 2010 581 8th Line West, RR1 Hastings, ON, K0L 1Y0 Phone/Fax: 705-696-1833   webmaster