The Undermining of Sacrifice
Sunday, October 18, 2009 04:42 AM
by Justice Wallace Gilby Craig ( retired)
Citizenship Contains Rights, Obligations
Citizenship is an entwinement of rights and obligations.
It is that inner voice which keeps us on the straight and narrow, and moves us to do our duty as members of the community.
The ultimate test of good citizenship occurred twice in the 20th century: in the Great War of 1914 -1918, and the Second World War of 1939-1945.
At 11 a.m. on Nov. 11 we stand, silent, in solemn remembrance of men who were killed in the two wars: 60,000 young men in the Great War, and 42,000 in the Second World War. A great many more sustained lifelong incapacitating injuries.
After 1945, demobilized soldiers, sailors and airmen struggled through the transition to civilian life in a new Canada, a land of opportunity, an industrial state that had manufactured all manner of military equipment and sophisticated products. In 1939, Canada’s cupboard was empty, in 1945 it was full; and in the aftermath of the war Canada’s economy continued to expand and diversify.
It was a remarkable transition for a million young Canadians: from the depths of the Great Depression to a savage global war, and then back home to enjoy duty’s reward: freedom under law and order in a democratic country.
I often wonder about ordinary young Canadians and whether a glimpse into the experiences of one veteran is typical of others.
On Oct. 4, a single page in The Province riveted me to its every word. Under the kicker Jim English: 1924- 2009, the headline read Bridge builder fought with Devil’s Brigade; Coalmont Survivor of Second Narrows Bridge Collapse Was ‘Bulletproof.’
It was a fitting tribute to Jim English by Staff reporter Susan Lazaruk. English died in September just before his 85th birthday. Lazaruk portrayed English as a strong and modest man who, when called upon, could do extraordinary things; an exemplary citizen in all respects.
Like so many others working in downtown Vancouver in 1958, I watched the slow progress of the building of a six-lane bridge across Burrard Inlet’s Second Narrows; its seemingly unsupported steel girders extending further and further high above dark and turbulent waters below. On June 17, 1958, word spread that the bridge had collapsed, sending me to a vantage point to stare, stunned, at the devastation of a downed bridge.
Eighteen workers were killed, 79 were injured. English plunged to the bottom of the narrows and floated to the surface suffering from extensive bruising, a broken tailbone and a gash on his face. As soon as he recovered from his injuries, English was back on the Second Narrows Bridge continuing his lifelong passion for building bridges.
English’s physical strength and toughness was hard-earned during his boyhood. He left home at age 11 to work and board on various farms near Prince George. In 1939, 15-year-old English put adolescence and farming aside and joined the Canadian army.
As a battle-tested foot soldier and sniper, twice wounded, English won transfer to the First Special Service Force, a brigade made up of three elite regiments – a mingling of 700 Canadians with 1700 Americans. Their intensity in combat soon earned them the nickname of The Devils Brigade – inspired by their blackened faces and daring courage.
English’s luck as a soldier returned with him to Canada. On March 27, 1948, he married Ruby Ready, a union that continued for 60 years until Ruby’s death on Christmas Day 2008.
In 1945, when English and all his comrades-in-arms returned home they settled into making Canadian communities civil and peaceable.
Yet within one generation, just 30 years after the war ended, a deviant drug subculture began insinuating itself into society.
And during the last 10 years local drug users have become increasingly vocal and organized, propagandizing as the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users and claiming an inherent right to use illicit drugs without moral and ethical constraint. Their ultimate goal: decriminalization of illicit drugs.
Anomalous users of cannabis are on a parallel path lead by their pretender, Marc Emery, the self-proclaimed Prince of Pot. Presently in custody in Vancouver, Emery will soon be on his way to the United States to begin a plea-bargained sentence of five years for selling cannabis seeds to Americans. (It was a profitable business).
Emery is a self-proclaimed marijuana martyr. In fact he is a serial violator of the law prohibiting possession of cannabis; and, as a pipsqueak scofflaw, he has earned a well-deserved sentence in the reality of an American jail.
In A Nation Forged in Fire – Canadians and the Second World War 1939-1945, authors J. L. Granaststein and Desmond Morton said that “Those men and women who gave their lives might have written great books, discovered cures for disease, or, more likely, simply have lived out their days in peace in their native land. They lost the chance for a full life because of forces beyond their control, beyond their country’s control – forces most of them comprehended only dimly.”
“Was it worth it? Was it worth the death, the maiming, the unending pain? That is a terrible question if posed by someone who lost a son, a husband, or a father at Ortona, on HMCS St. Croix, or in a Lancaster over the Ruhr. Even so, there can be only one answer. Was it worth it? Oh, yes.”
On Nov. 11, we shall stand silent commemorating the sacrifice of those young men and women; evermore mindful of our rights and obligations as citizens of Canada.
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Posted by: Eagleone on October 18 2009 7:37 AM
Whoa...
I wonder if he was able to apply that same logic when he was on the bench?