My friend and I met as teens working for a summer camp for children who would otherwise have been unable to attend camp due to family/life/financial circumstances. From a young age he always wanted to serve and help others. We often talked about what we wanted to do as we got older and it involved helping people.
For my friend it was joining the military but not just to fight but to help people in other countries as a peace keeper which was a well known role for Canada. In short he joined up to fight to stop fighting.
He also was really big on going into disaster areas when sent by the gov't to help people out IN Canada who had just had floods, fires, etc and had just lost everything.
What did he do for Canada? He went places as our representative and did things our country, and we as the people who elected our leaders, requested him to do.
He spent time in dangerous foreign places ensuring that peace continued so that children would have the chance to grow up and hopefully know these can be a difference rather than trying to kill others. So that places where oppression and cruelty openly ruled, were met with the only force they would understand and give the people suffering there a chance to live without that hovering over their heads. He and others gave them that chance and opportunity.
He went places where Canadians lost everything and helped them survive and let them know that Canadian people and also their gov't did care and were there to help.
He didn't do it for money. If you know anyone in the military you know that isn't there. He did it for pride. He did it to help others. He did it because he loved this country and he loved representing what we as a people can and should be when we think of ourselves and what others think of when they hear our name.
He represented Canada and the beliefs, hopes, and dreams that we have as a country at home and on the world stage and he paid the ultimate price for what we asked him to do.
I don't think that one day where we ask people to think of all the men and women who have given the most precious thing they have when asked by their country is too much to ask for him. I think of him randomly a lot and I enjoy that I can spend time each year wearing my poppy so I can be proud of him.
It doesn't have to be how others say it should be done. You can do it your own way. If taking your child out of school and spending the day talking about war(s), peace keeping, what soldiers do and what they sacrifice is how you choose to remember them, great. Most ceremonies are just there so people who don't know what to do have the chance to do something and also so current vets can be thanked for service.
I myself do not attend any service. I wait until the evening and then go to a cenotaph and spend some time thinking about him, things I am doing in my life, and if I am really living my life in a manner I want others to remember me by. Then I write his name on the back of the poppy and leave it there. His death inspired me to do volunteer work for a military-style gov't service which I do all year round.
Whatever you do, I think it should be done out of respect for the soldiers, not for political reasons. Whatever their reasons for going, whatever the political issues behind it, they went and did something that we should thank them for in their service. Understand that rallying against foolish decisions of old gov'ts by rallying against a day meant for the soldier, not the gov't, demeans their work and sacrifice.
When people say we shouldn't have Remembrance Day, or it's a joke, or that they get angry at politics rather than use the day to thank servicemen, I know for me, I will continue to use the day as I think it was meant and no one can stop me. My friend died for the idea he was making a difference and so that we as a country and as a people would have the freedom to agree or disagree, to practice our lives in whatever manner we want.
He died for that idea, and while many can try to corrupt an idea, the idea remains because of people like my friend. In our national anthem it says, "We stand on guard, for thee." I stand on guard for my friend, his idea of this country, and the freedom we have as a result of people willing to give everything to try and make here and the world a better place.
So I say "you're welcome" because I know that was what my friend would say if people said "thank you" for his service and sacrifice.
Brent Donald Poland - The Canadian Virtual War Memorial - Veterans Affairs Canada