It’s Remembrance Day that needs remembrance now.
For years the poppies in Flanders, France grew over the graves of fallen soldiers. And for years, grandfathers passed on the stories of their brothers in arms.
Their numbers are now slimming, and with one generation passing, a new one has to take their place. But the tales of today’s veterans are different, as are the wars they fought.
Sam Smith still remembers the stories of his grandfathers, one a pilot and the other in civil defence. The 17-year-old always knew he would pursue a career in the military and becoming a member of St. Albert’s army cadets was his first step in this direction.
On Nov. 11, he and other local cadets will march down St. Anne Street to commemorate the fallen soldiers of the First World War.
Smith said he knew about Remembrance Day since he was little but it was later, when he joined the cadets, that he learnt to respect it.
“When I first joined, there was a lieutenant here and on Remembrance Day he told us that it was a day to remember our freedoms and that inspired me,” Smith said.
“We are so lucky for the freedoms we have and it’s something worth defending. You never really think about that.”
Fourteen-year-old Caiden Brook is little different from Smith in his ambitions to join the military. Most of his family served in the army, and it was only natural for him to become a member of the cadets and move on to the service later.
Brook said his family visited the Remembrance Day ceremony every year. He said he knew of its meaning but only after joining the cadets did he feel that his role was to tell others of its significance.
Yet Brook and Smith are part of a diminishing group of youth with family members that served in the two world wars. Most of their friends know the past from history books and lessons, and what their parents and the news may tell them.
Squadron captain Bentley Barr was little older than Brook or Smith when he joined the St. Albert air cadets in 1974. He said he was fascinated with airplanes, and the cadets gave him the opportunity to study aviation and become a glider pilot.
Today, he prepares members of the St. Albert 533 Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron for Remembrance Day, showing them how to place their rifle, when to bow their head and where to stand at the cenotaph.
When he grew up, he said the Cold War was part of everyday life, and grandparents lived to tell stories of the wars at family gatherings. The youth was aware of the past, and the news constantly told stories of conflicts in different parts of the world.
“In high school, my social studies classes touched on the Cold War and the arms race and the space race and aviation was at its technological peak,” he said.
“Now there are fewer people to pass along these stories, except for the news. And it’s only relevant when something tragic happens but otherwise people put it on the back burner.”
Barr said today’s cadets join his squadron to be with their friends, not to pursue a career in the military. Instead of learning about rocket engines and airplanes, they study citizenship and physical fitness. They learn how the government works and have a strong focus on community services.
While they are taught the significance of Remembrance Day, Barr worries the lessons may sometimes fall on deaf ears. With the Canadian military being involved in fewer conflicts, war studies are less popular these days.
“With the change in studies in school and due to the end of the Cold War and less conflict across the world, cadets changed their focus to incorporate more current studies that attract more Canadians,” he said.
“I worry that inexperienced young people will not understand the magnitude of change that occurred because of these conflicts.”
Barr acknowledged that there are also a lot of positives about youth growing up in more peaceful times. Youth learn to be peacemakers and peacekeepers, to interact with their peers and to grow into active members of the community.
Andrew Lejeune, squadron captain with the St. Albert 533, said Remembrance Day still takes on a prevalent role for cadets. He said they learn about its significance during the annual poppy drive, and through meetings with old and more recent veterans.
While lessons take a more sombre note during their Remembrance Day preparations, today’s cadets study a broad area of Canadian history, not just the wars, he added.
The times when cadet programs were a recruiting tool for the military are long past, he said.
“We are a long time removed, even from the war in Korea … we have to teach them more now and I think they realize it’s important. But there is also a changing perception about wars,” he said.
