EDITORIAL: A torch of a different type
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Updated: November 12, 2009 4:23 PM
As the Olympic torch makes its way across B.C. and Canada, a bright light of excitement is beginning to grow as athletes and spectators count down the days to the 2010 Winter Games.
But this week – Remembrance Day, specifically – a torch of another type was passed, from one generation to another.
As veterans from the Second World War and Korean War shrink in numbers, and as present-day soldiers in Afghanistan continue to fall, the importance of continuing sacred Nov. 11 ceremonies becomes clear.
As Dave Sinclair, president of The Royal Canadian Legion, B.C./Yukon Command, said: “The time will soon come when our youth will take up the torch and continue this proud legacy of remembrance in their communities.”
Sinclair challenges us to engage youth in learning about the country’s veterans, and to teach them the importance of remembering their sacrifices.
In Surrey and Delta, some dedicated young people have already responded to that call.
In North Delta, for example, Cadets, Scouts, Girl Guides and students had a hand in helping create the annual Remembrance Day ceremony at the Social Heart Plaza. They continue to participate in large numbers each year.
And Surrey Scout Blair Moro has made a remarkable journey, researching the history of Cloverdale’s William Adnett Smith, a Second World War soldier who perished at Juno Beach on June 6, 1944 during Allied forces’ D-Day operations.
Moro, 16, travelled to Normandy, France this summer as part of a youth delegation for the 65th anniversary of the fateful battle. He brought with him a plaque from Smith’s three adult children, who were just boys when their father perished, to place on Smith’s grave.
Moro – who through his research was able to fill in some blanks for Smith’s family – was deeply touched by the details of the fallen soldier’s life and death, and he spent several long minutes kneeling at Smith’s grave.
“I was trying to take in everything that had happened in his life, how it has affected mine, and how it has affected his family and the people he loved,” Moro said.
That’s the sound of a torch being passed.
