PUBLICATION: The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
DATE: 2006.11.10
EDITION: Final
SECTION: Forum
PAGE: A13
BYLINE: David A Bocking
SOURCE: Special to The StarPhoenix
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Vigilance needed to protect freedoms gained at high price
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Following is the viewpoint of the writer, a Saskatoon resident.
At this time of year, we pause to remember the sacrifices made by our forebears so that we might live in freedom. We have heard this so many times that it's easy to take for granted the freedoms we enjoy today which were won at such a cost.
For me, this is a time to recall sacrifices made by members of my family who contributed to the world I inherit today:
Edgar Charles Cocker, a great-uncle, 2nd Platoon, 1st Company, 10th battalion, 2nd Division, British Expeditionary Force. Killed in action on May 21, 1915, Festubert, France.
Francis James Bocking, another great-uncle, C Company, 5th Overseas Battalion. Killed in action Sept. 27, 1916, the Somme, France.
Alfred George Edwin Carter, my maternal grandfather, Royal Winnipeg Rifles, wounded in France, 1917.
Leslie Charles Bocking, my father, Loyal Edmonton Regiment, wounded in Italy, 1944.
I am the direct living descendant of families who made such sacrifices, yet I have never had to go to war. It is very easy indeed to take for granted the benefit I have been accorded.
And, it is vital to remember that we are a generation that largely was spared the direct experience of the horrors of war. But, in this, we are a "generation between" because in our day, our own children are marching off to war.
Unfortunately, the wars of the past did not "end all wars ..."
There are other theaters, though, in which even my own generation is still at war. There are other venues in which the advantages of today, won by the sacrifices of the past, remain at risk. Thus, it is vital that our generation doesn't, through apathy, squander its inheritance and bequeath to its heirs a lesser world.
Those of us who are members of the labour movement are still at war today. The battle remains to defend and to extend the rights and freedoms won for us by our sisters and brothers of the past, who fought to establish their rights and recognition of their human dignity. They bequeathed to us the betterment of our lot, won with their blood on other battlefields: the Winnipeg general strike in June 1919; the Estevan coal miners' strike of Sept. 29, 1931; the Regina Riot, July, 1935.
We face strong pressure today to erode our rights and devalue the work of our minds, hearts and hands. Sometimes the pressure is clearly visible in large issues and sometimes it is the sum of many small matters that are veiled and visible only in a panoramic view that reveals the greater trend.
In the face of the former, dramatic action is required. For the latter, steady vigilance is key. At all times, determined solidarity is essential for survival.
Let's remember at this time of year the freedoms won for us at great cost by our forebears. Let's recall the heroes of earlier generations who fought and died for matters larger than themselves, on battlefields foreign and domestic. Let's never take for granted their sacrifice nor allow apathy to goad us into complacency, for therein lies our sure demise.
Lest we forget ... Lest we forget.
