Defence of Society

My father was a career Air Force pilot. He flew Lancasters and Halifax bombers in the Second World War and F86 Sabres and CF104s in the Cold War. The life spent on military bases throughout Canada and overseas was one of pride, discipline, and sacrifice. Those times, from the normal citizen's point of view of the world, were full of prosperous growth, technical and sociological development (if not revolution), and relative global stability. I never really gave too much thought about the contribution the forces played in our lives. My life was, in all respects, pretty normal.

My dad passed away a year ago at 82 years of age. I have spent a lot of time reminiscing and reflecting on his life and the life he provided for his wife and three sons. Although, as his survivors we owed our life to him, both literally and figuratively, we all identified ourselves through our own personal experiences outside of a military career perspective. While all of our own lives may have taken their own unique paths, replete with serious and influential consequences, none seemed to compare with the significance of my father's. I loved him dearly and never treated him with the respect I now know he, and those who gave their lives for their country, deserved.

I'm not expecting everyone to have the same consideration on our country's armed forces. My father's life, as it looms large in my mind, won't obviously have such an impact on yours. But, I hasten to add, in all the time my father lived, no matter where he was and what he was doing, he was ready at an instant to fight to protect our society's freedoms. Throughout his life, he kept sharp, in tune, and at the ready.

Ephemeral political machinations and wavering social mores come and go with little appreciation given to the underlying segment of society who devote their lives to ensure we have the freedom to develop as our democracy will. They are always there. Proud, ready and willing to sacrifice everything for this young country within the global community. In my mind, they are the best our country has.

It's not every day your life is on the line. If you gave it some thought, not only in these days when our civil order is at risk but in times of peace and prosperity, our military men and women wade into hostile environments most of us would shit ourselves in. Excuse the language but it's very true. They are our vanguard who represent what may be the first confrontation anyone has of Canada. On the world stage, it's not usually "Run, it's the Canadians," it's more like: "Thank God, it's the Canadians".

Many people in this country buy into the leftist propaganda which likens the military's role to Hollywood's depiction of blood, guts, and glory. The point? It promotes the impression that career service personnel are brutal killers. The reality is anything but. I can't speak for the Americans, and I don't want to further confuse the ill informed who see no distinction from the MSM's deplorable imagination, but our forces are specially trained with technical expertise and operational capability far superior to your every day civilian standards. It's just a function of need. While equipment failure of civilian design might lead to frustration and inconvenience, the military counterpart's inadequate performance can lead to massive loss of life. So too with our people. Surmounting physical and mental extremes before being called to perform toughens one up for utility. How could that diminish one's humanity? It strengthens it and positions one ahead of the rest.

Of course, if you sliced through the military segment of our society you'd pretty much find the same strata of education and interest as the greater society that we are part and parcel of. We've got our doctorates, professors, tacticians, technicians, and hamburger flippers too. All within a cohesive and goal oriented group. It makes one proud to be a part. I hazard a guess that many of our young men and women feel a disconnect within greater society's relentless dog eat dog ambitions.

Of course, the majority of day to day activities in the forces may be mundane, benign, and normal to the extreme; but, believe me, when the caca hits the fan and we're all running the other way, we've got a great bunch who step up. God hope they always will.

I'd like to commend Debris Trail from Celestial Junk Blog for putting together a blogroll of bloggers that support our military. We hope his project develops to concentrate and elevate the perception of our most valued Canadian Heroes. I'll do my part to contribute my respect.