Once again, I want to take the time to honour all of the men and women who have protected this country and served in it is various times of need. Those in Canada will know that today is Remembrance Day, when we celebrate the end of the Great War (aka WWI) and honour all who have come through the hardships of military service.

This year it is especially meaningful for me, as I was able to view the military service records for both of my grandfather's in the past year.  I never really got to know much about either man's history, as one grandfather died long before I was born and the other didn't like to talk about the war.

The grandfather I knew, Ernie Frazer, was a farmboy from Saskatchewan, toiling away on his father's farm when war broke out. In 1941, at the age of 24, he and three other local boys went to the nearest town and signed up for the Royal Canadian Air Force, planning to serve together as pilots or mechanics or such. The other three were rejected for health reasons, and for the first time in his life Ernie had to leave his home and his family, and travel on alone. He was sent to Aylmer, Ontario where he did his basic training, and then re-assigned to the west coast of British Columbia to several different airforce bases where he did construction and mechanical work. His skills with machinery, learned on the farm, were universally praised by his commanders and they recommended him for Flight Engineer training. After completing the courses, he was assigned to the flight crew of a CANSO flying boat serving on the Pacific Coastal Patrol. Ernie was honourably discharged from the military in December 1946 and returned to his hometown to start life as a father, husband, and farmer. He truly deserves respect and honour, which he didn't always receive in life, for his service and sacrifice.

My other grandfather died eighteen years before I was born, and so I never had a chance to know him. But through family history and released military records I was given the opportunity to learn of his service record. George Bird had grown up in Victoria, BC and was working as a carpenter when the war began. He spent the first few years of the war as a civilian carpenter working for the military (mostly the Western Air Command and Royal Canadian Air Force) but in 1943 he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy. He had hoped to serve at CFB Esquimalt (conveniently located about fifteen minutes from his home and family) but the military instead assigned him to Nova Scotia, on the east coast of Canada. Although he didn't go overseas, he did work as a carpenter at HMCS Stadacona, HMCS Peregrine and HMCS Fort Ramsay. In 1945 he was discharged and returned home to his family, and his continued career as a carpenter.

 
It is interesting to read through military records such as these. I would encourage everyone who has or had veterans in their family to get to know more about their service and their achievements. ( And then try to imagine yourself at the same age doing the same things and making the same sacrifices. And especially if they volunteered to do it! )

And then you will know why we must always remember these brave men and women, and the amazing things they achieved for the good of the nation.