Today, we see many groups trying to influence the powers-that-be to “improve the world”: protesters camp out in our cities to protest inequality in personal incomes (they want less money for CEOs, more for themselves); gay rights advocates across the country push programs in schools to manipulate students’ ideas about homosexuality; the United Nations’ pro-Islam lobby hijacks the world forum to provide a stage for megalomaniacs like Iran’s President Amedinejad… the list goes on.
But this month, we all pause to remember men and women who took a very different approach to improving the world: they put their lives on the line—not to win anything for themselves, but on behalf of the whole world.
The former CBS news anchor Dan Rather once called Second World War soldiers “the greatest generation”; and in many respects, he was right. It was the largest demonstration in history of young people who were willing to risk everything for human freedom. Those veterans didn’t risk their lives to tear down the standards of morality that are the foundation of our culture. They were protecting the very culture that gives protesters and special-interest groups the right to express their ideas.
In the years since then—in Korea, in Vietnam, in Bosnia, in the two Gulf Wars, in Afghanistan—we have seen others pick up that torch… and improve on it.
Today’s soldiers not only risk their lives for peace, they must be much more than fighters; they must also be community workers, family counsellors, advocates for youth and women’s rights. They not only knock down the bad guys, they also build up infrastructure like schools and hospitals. They put their engineering and medical skills to work to rescue people in emergencies.
Remembrance Day is a time each year when we all pause to declare our admiration for men and women of such character. Nov. 11 is our opportunity to say, “Well done! and Thank you.” That’s why, when the veterans’ contingent of the parade marches by, we applaud. Such people renew our hope that men and women of principle still exist among us, and are still willing to risk everything to leave a better world for future generations.