By KATHY M. CONNOR
Guest columnist
Around this time of year, the solemn, cooling temperatures of November stir thoughts of a somber nature.
Gordon Lightfoot sang of how “the lake it is said never gives up her dead, when the skies of November turn gloomy’’ in his Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Certainly, Veterans Day in the United States and Remembrance Day in Canada, which both fall on this Saturday, Nov. 11, are somber and solemn in tenor, but there is also the aspect of reverence and appreciation for those who have sacrificed for our freedom and way of life.
In the little river village of Morristown – I persist in calling it the village although we are technically a hamlet, having been dissolved and absorbed into a township, and no longer allotted a mayor – Chapman Park overlooks the St. Lawrence River. The park contains an historic stone windmill, a tennis/pickle ball court, assorted playground equipment and bathroom, and the Veterans Memorial Stones.
On these stones are carved the names of those who served. Last names that still live in the community – Colby, Cree, Lowery, Moore, Moquin, Newby, Paquette, Whalen, Woodcock and Wright – are inscribed underneath the conflict in which they served: Gulf War, Vietnam War, Korean War, World War I and II, all the way back to the Civil War. Northern New York communities do remember, and do appreciate, their veterans and the fallen.
Not all names inscribed on the village stones are of the fallen; thankfully many came back. But that does not mean that those who returned did not sacrifice, nor do we ignore that their families incurred the cost. There are many hazards and perils in war, not just death. Service during conflict and under active-duty conditions, whether or not actual battles are engaged in, comes at a personal cost. So we proffer the “reward” of recognition for their valor and willingness to serve.
It’s always important and significant when the younger, protected generation in school is exposed to the stories of its elders who went to war to preserve a way of life. In Morristown, the children of a certain elementary grade or afterschool group routinely have placed American flags at the graves of veterans for Memorial Day. Those who are descendants of veterans appreciate this gesture. Certainly, the teachers and staff who promote this activity are appreciated for their thoughtfulness and respect that they are passing along.
It’s always a solemn moment when the small communities hold their Veterans Day and Remembrance Day observances. Usually, they are fairly small affairs without much pomp and circumstance, certainly not as grand as at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. It’s been a few years since I’ve attended a Memorial Day or Veterans Day observance at the Veterans Stones in Chapman Park. However, just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, I was teaching in Northern Ontario when the students were involved in the Remembrance Day ceremony at that community’s memorial.
On Bear Island in Lake Temagami, Ontario, Remembrance Day in the small community school was well observed, with art, reading activities, etc. On Remembrance Day itself, the students walked a half-mile down the road to the memorial stone under the Canadian and provincial flags to participate in a small ceremony presided over by First Nations community elders. The memorial overlooks the lake, just as the Morristown stones overlook the St. Lawrence. Water serves as a medium for memory and the flow of gratitude.
As a project before Remembrance Day, I had walked the upper elementary students to the memorial to read the names, all names of relatives and people that they knew. There was much discussion of one veteran, a woman who had served in WWII. History comes alive indeed.
When we think of November, and the gales of November that come before American Thanksgiving and before the festive Christmas season, it is fitting that we remember and honor those who served, both those who returned to our shores, and those who did not.
Guest columnist Kathy M. Connor of Morristown holds a doctorate in English from the University of Ottawa.
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