Letter: What Remembrance Day means to me…

By Letter to the Editor on November 7, 2024.

Dear editor,

I am the daughter of a veteran of the First World War.

When I was 10 years old in Grade 5 in 1963, our class was getting ready for Remembrance Day when my teacher was telling us the importance of remembering those who fought in the wars.

I put up my had to tell him my dad had fought in the First World War. He proceeded to tell me he did not, I stood my ground and said yes he did. But he continued to tell me no he didn’t.

Another student asked how old my dad was; I said 65 and the shock that went throughout the classroom. My dad was 55 the year I was born in 1953. It was the first time I ever thought about him in a war. He would never talk about it to us kids until I was about 12, and the only thing he ever said was, “You quit making friends because so many died as you fought right beside them.”

He never ever mentioned it again.

He had been wounded in the war, which affected the way he walked. He died in 1973 when I was 20. I know he served because it was the right thing to do.

So for me, Remembrance Day is a day that makes me proud of the men and women who fought for all of us. My dad’s birthday will be this month, Nov. 28, 1897.

As I have gotten older I recognized even more his sacrifice. Love you, Dad. Forever and always, your loving daughter, Ruby.

Ruby Myers

Medicine Hat

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