From an article I wrote several years ago:

I am faced with the difficult task of writing a “Rail from the Rail” with Remembrance Day looming a few days in the future. Though I believe it is a privilege and an honour to write about our soldiers, I also find it difficult. But, we must remember.
Allow me to start by sharing a paraphrase of a phone conversation between my stepfather and one of his brothers. My stepfather had several brothers who served in WW2 and he calls them every year on November 11th to thank them for their service and sacrifice. The crux of the conversation goes something like this:

Stepfather: “You know why I’m calling today, right?”
Step-uncle: “Yep.”
Stepfather: “I wanted to thank you for your service to our country and for the great sacrifice you made on behalf of our family and our country.”
Step-uncle: “You’re welcome.”
Stepfather: “I wanted to thank you for your bravery and for saving the world.”
Step-uncle: “Well, I didn’t do it alone you know.”
Stepfather: “Of course. But it could not have been done without courageous young men like you. Thank you.”

My step-uncle said, “I didn’t do it alone”. What a sense of humour! I wonder if that sense of humour served him well in the terrors of war. This man, my step-uncle, was hardly more than a child when he went to war. He was underage and lied about how old he was so he would not be left behind. I often wonder how many teenagers we could find today who would lie about their age so they would be allowed to fight for their country. I wonder what I would do if I were a teenager faced with the same situation. I can only hope that I would live up to the example set by him and so many other Canadians who have served our country. Thank you indeed!

I want to use something from the current conflict our country finds itself in to cause us to stop and remember the many that served and died in past conflicts. I decided to look at some of the common complaints that are raised in the press and in our daily conversations about our country’s involvement in Afghanistan and use those as a springboard to recollect and revere our fallen soldiers. Now please understand, I am not writing so as to discuss the merits of the complaints. Whether the complaints are valid or not is not the issue that concerns me. Rather, I think the complaints will reveal some things about the past of our Armed Forces. We can remember the past with gratitude. There are two complaints about the Afghan mission that I hear most frequently: first, the Canadian soldiers are playing the hardest and most dangerous part; second, the Canadian forces are playing a role that is disproportionate in terms of our resources (human, military, financial, etc.) when compared to other NATO countries. Let’s consider what we can glean from both these objections.

I agree that, by and large, our Canadian troops are participating in the mission in Afghanistan in very difficult, dangerous, and deadly situations. It seems that there is some consensus on this. The frequency of fighting in which the Canadians are involved and the resulting casualties seem to bolster this assertion. At any rate, it is not the first time that Canadian soldiers have carried the burden of being in the gravest situations of a mission. Consider the valiant fighting of our forces in World War 2 at Normandy. This excerpt from the Veteran’s Affairs Canada website (www.vac-acc.gc.ca) says it all:

• Canadians had figured prominently in the defeat of Hitlerism. In Normandy they had been in the vanguard of the Allied victory. The Nazi losses there were horrific – 300,000 men. Moreover, most of the enemy's equipment had been destroyed, including more than 2,000 tanks. The backbone of the German Army in the west was broken in Normandy, and the Canadians had played a monumental role.
• Allied casualties during the battle had also been heavy, including 18,444 Canadians, of whom 5,021 would never see their homes again. Of all the divisions which formed part of Montgomery's 21 Army Group, none suffered more casualties than the 3rd and 2nd Canadian.
• Like their British and American allies, the Canadians made mistakes in command and in training and their inexperience often came back to haunt them. But their high casualty rate also reflected the specific tasks of the Canadian Army during the campaign and the fact that it continually faced the best troops the enemy had to offer. It was a bloody process, but once they learned the harsh lessons of battle, Canada's amateur soldiers proved to be a match for the professional forces they faced. Often in the forefront of the Allied advance against determined opposition, the Canadians took on tasks out of all proportion to their real power. And they accomplished them sometimes amidst hesitation and confusion, – and always courageously.

Normandy is one example of many. Canadian soldiers have not blinked while staring into the eyes of perilous situations. If indeed our soldiers in Afghanistan are facing the most severe and deadly tasks, then at least they know their military heritage includes such situations. Perhaps it could even be considered a compliment that the coalition has asked Canada to play the part they have. Maybe Canada’s history of producing courageous and determined soldiers led to our forces being in the situation they are now in. It is far from a desirable situation, but I believe our soldiers are continuing a legacy of bravery and sacrifice that they have inherited from those we are remembering. I am proud of them - proud and grateful.

The second complaint has to do with Canada carrying a burden in Afghanistan that is disproportionate to other NATO countries. I think this is likely true as well. When one considers our population, our military resources, and our finances, I think a case could be made that we are doing more than our fair share when compared with other countries. We have been warned that our military is being stretched thin by our work in the Afghan mission. Again, I encourage the reader to remember that this is not the first time we have been in a situation like this. I sincerely believe from the little history I have learned that in the past world conflicts, Canada has done more than what can be expected from a country of our size. We have fought with allies whose populations dwarf our own. We have fought alongside countries whose military might was considerably greater than ours. Our soldiers shouldered their loads, and then some. So if our part in Afghanistan is bigger than it ought to be, we might forgive the other countries this oversight. Perhaps they have come to expect this due to the legacy of our fighting men and women. It seems to me that our brave forces of days gone by have set that standard
.
The complaints of a current conflict remind us that we live in a country that has been served by soldiers of great courage, valour, and determination. And we ought to remember - remember and be grateful.