Memorial crosswalk the right thing to do

Jeff Helsdon, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Tillsonburg council recently granted two requests associated with recognizing those who served our country.

At the July 12 meeting, a request from the Tillsonburg Legion was to install a veteran’s crosswalk in front of the cenotaph before Remembrance Day. These crosswalks, which are growing in popularity across the province, are a painted crosswalk to be a year-round tribute to those who gave their lives for Canada.

It's hard today to imagine what life was like in the First and Second World Wars. Nearly everyone knew someone who had enlisted. Although families at home were thousands of kilometers from the conflict, they hoped and prayed they wouldn’t receive the dreaded telegram telling of the loss of their loved one overseas. Besides the emotional burden, there was a cost of the conflict at home with rationing in place.

More than 10 per cent, or 66,000, wouldn’t return from the First World War. Another 44,000 paid the extreme sacrifice not three decades later in the Second World War.

Even those who returned paid a toll, with many suffering from what we now call post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

More recently, images of soldiers carrying coffins off cargo airplanes in Trenton, and loading their brethren into a hearse, are burned into the memories of another generation. Again, those returning brought with them a burden, more openly recognized as PTSD.

The Legion does a lot to support veterans. Locally, a coffee hour for veterans has grown in popularity, showing there is still a need for those who were in combat to discuss what they feel can only be shared with another who experienced it.

The second request to council was from the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association for waiving the fees of its Wings and Wheels event. This popular event is the group’s largest fundraiser of the year, and draws hundreds of people to town.

The town is justified in charging user fees for events, especially ones that require staff time. However, in this case, council was right to exempt the fee, and should consider doing so on an ongoing basis as this event is not only a huge draw, but educates the public about our military past. It’s also an event that doesn’t require additional staff efforts.

In Remembrance Day ceremonies across the country, a line from Laurence Binyon’s 1914 poem – “They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old” – pays tribute to the dead in a time of war. Now, 111 years later, there is a growing recognition of those who served as First World War veterans are no more, and the ranks of Second World War veterans are thinning by the day.

Kudos to council for carrying forward this recognition of those who served. Let’s just hope that bureaucracy doesn’t get in the way of granting the wishes of council and Legion members.