From: Barclay, Tom <tomb@b...>
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 13:43:05 -0500
Subject: [OT] Rememberance Day thought
I'd just like to take a brief OT moment - my apologies to those who consider this a spam-o-gram. No doubt some will consider this entirely out of place and I hope they won't be too offended. Note that nothing I say below should be taken as an acceptance of the necessity for armed conflict nor as an affirmation of the force of nationalism which has undoubtedly exacerbated or initiated many conflicts the world over. We've just passed Rememberance Day (I guess it would be Veteran's Day in the USA) in Canada and as always, it was an appropriately cold November 11th. This year, surprisingly, there were a larger than usual number of people at the cenotaph that I attended as well as the one in Ottawa at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The Legion commented that they had an increased demand for speakers this year - it seems the young folks are actually interested in what the various wars were about and what the old men with all the medals did. I'd just like to take this moment to say my own thanks to the list community - to a group of people who, through gaming, preserve an interest in the past and the sacrifices of those who have gone before. Sure, it is just a game and a lot of the scenarios we game have never happened, but all the same it is part of keeping alive an interest in those events in history which brought us to where we are today at such a high cost. Because a Rememberance Day has just passed and because on that day many of us end up giving thanks for generations of service by people we've never met, I thought I should also thank some of the people I have met because their efforts were no less meaningful for no longer being anonymous to me. I'd like to extend my thanks to list members who are or have served in their nation's armed forces in some capacity - regular or reserve. Everyone who has taken an Oath to his nation to defend it and to lay down his or her life accordingly has something in common. Most of us are fortunate enough to have not been involved in the major wars of the 20th century - I myself was lucky enough to never see a shot fired in anger or any of the horrors of the many "not-wars" the last half-century spawned. It doesn't matter what nation or what service by en large - each of those who have done national service put themselves forward to defend their countrymen, their way of life, their family and their loved ones regardless of their personal peril. For that, I salute you.