Honouring those who have served their country
“Lest we forget” is a term connected with Remembrance Day, so we tend to think of people who gave the ultimate sacrifice: life itself. But beyond Red Fridays, November 11 th is also a time to honour all the men and women who serve their country in wartime, peacekeeping missions and emergency situations in Canada . For me, Remembrance Day always means thanking the heavens that my grandfather, Sgt. Harold C. Lampman (a.k.a. Dad Lampman), made it home to Canada from World War II. Dad and his war bride, Betty (Mom-Mom) Dad was a self-professed pacifist, family man and keen student, so going to war wasn’t something to which he aspired. When he was young, his love of music and interest in signaling were what he enjoyed in the cadet corps and the Oxford Rifles band. Atrocities overseas eventually drove Dad to sign up for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). As he put it, he and others were “forced by circumstances and people like Hitler and the Japanese Emperor to ...