##  [ Do We Remember? ](/articles/do-we-remember) 

  Submitted by [Gary Brown](/whois/4577) on Sunday, November 10, 2013 - 15:02 

 November.

Wind swept. Cold. Wet.

A month for remembering. Edmund Burke once said that “those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it”.

My father landed on Juno Beach in 1944. It was D-Day. He was a member of the Highland Light Infantry signal corps and he came home safely. He never spoke about his wartime experiences with his family. Humorous incidents, yes, but nothing else. I know that this is a common trait amongst veterans. Perhaps the combatants thought that not speaking about their personal horrors would lessen the chance that others would have to repeat them. I don’t know.

[![poppy_fields](http://garybrownfsa.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/poppy_fields.jpg?w=300&h=166)](http://garybrownfsa.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/poppy_fields.jpg)

It is important that we honour those that sacrificed so much — their youth, their opportunities, their lives.  
 But, perhaps we should also pause during our periods of remembrance and reflect upon our dreams. Our ‘*what could be’*. After all, those who gave so much did so with the understanding that they were struggling for a better future. Not just for themselves, but for those who followed.

We would do well to strive for that future, lest we forget.



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