EDITORIALS – Kamloops once again says, ‘We will remember them’

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

THE RAINS WAITED, then came at the moment today’s Remembrance Day ceremony in Riverside Park came to an end. It was a perfect conclusion to the annual event.

Once again, Kamloops proved it does remember. And that’s what it’s about. They were there by the thousands, as they always are, to pay their respects. As so eloquently expressed by those who spoke, this day isn’t about making judgment on this war or that war, which ones are just and which aren’t. It’s about those who fought in those wars, risking everything and often losing everything.

It’s about gratitude. Standing there, proudly wearing our poppies as the veterans marched, and we all sang, listened to the recital of John McCrae’s and Laurence Binyon’s famous words, the bagpipes and the bugler, and dignitaries laid wreaths in honour of the fallen, it’s impossible not to feel that gratitude. An honour, really, just to be in the presence of those who made it home, and to say thank-you in our hearts for the ones who died.

Still, the wars go on. In past years, speakers talked of the First World War, then the Second, then Korea, then Afghanistan and others. Now the talk is about Ukraine and Gaza.

Since Ukraine, these ceremonies have meant a little extra for me as I ponder the fact that my German-speaking grandparents and generations before them eked out a living in Ukraine near Chernobyl, and that those who came after them are now fighting for the survival of their country.

It’s a day of profound emotion that’s impossible to fully grasp without being there at the cenotaph. When the pilots do their fly-past and the roar of those mighty CF-18 engines descends on the park, you can’t help but get choked up with pride.

A half hour of our time isn’t too much to ask, so next year, we’ll all do it again. Because we remember them.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.