Today my 90 year old Dad and I shared Remembrance Day together by phone as the 11th hour of the 11th month was remembered.. His nurse put his TV on CTV and I spoke with him from 1050am til 1115am on the phone to describe what was happening.. He is legally blind and suffering from dementia..
It was a great day !! Sun shining and mild a the cenotaph in Ottawa with a mixed crowd of 30,000 to remember what my Dad and Grandad did for us...We talked all through it except for the 2 min's of silence..
My Dad is a simple but strong willed guy from Perth in Scotland who signed up for the RAF when they were being conscripted in 1939..
He became an aeronautical engineer, but back then he fixed shot up Lancheshire bombers and Spitfires and test flew them for the pilots who came from the upper class.. He damn near was killed by a stray German Stuka pilot when the all clear siren sounded for the tube dwellers in London, but happy to say he was one of the lucky ones..
His Dad Tom had half his leg and his private parts blown to smithereens in WW1. His job as a member of the army was to go out into 'no man's land' and find a safe path for his mates dug into the trenches...
Mustard gas was a German invention, the allies didn't have a gas mask yet, Grandad Tom would dip his St Johnstone FC scarf in unimaginable water and tie it around his nose and mouth as a screen then venture out for his pals...
The claymore blew his right leg off and his testicles... Somehow he as an Angus survived and eventually returned home to Perth and the laird gave him and his wife a home for a shilling a month that my Dad and I were born in ,on the hills of Craigie hill GC...
Today at Rogers and elsewhere I saw a huge majority without their Poppies... At the local high school they are almost non existent... Seniors all have one... the rest ???
Why did Dad and Grandpa Tom fight for us ?? So many new countries in Canada who had no involvement in the war, I will not name them, you know...
You must never forget... It was awful,, they had no choice. they were kids but they were brave and but for them you would not enjoy this freedom.. What does your 18 yr old spend most of his /her time doing today ??
That's why you should care
Best regards
Bryan Angus for his dad Bill and Grandad Tom
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