Huron County

Letter To A fallen Soldier From Huron County

By Jim ⋅ November 11, 2007 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

November 11th,
Dungannon, Ontario,
Huron County

Dear Uncle Robert,

I’m not sure you have the web where you are now, but if you do, this is a letter from the heart and I hope you can read it.

The last time I saw you, was the night you were leaving from your last furlough home. I remember you had on your uniform and you were laughing; I remember too that you let me play with your "dog tags". I also remember asking you why you were wearing them like a necklace. You said something like, "Well, if I happen to get killed, whoever finds me will know who I am and give Grandma a call". Then you quickly added, "But I’m not gonna get killed and I’ll see you as soon as we win this thing" – or something like that. I was only 5 or 6 years old, but I remember that night as if it was last night.

I remember too that Uncle Gordon was with us and my Mom and Dad and Grandma and Aunt Isabelle. Everybody was crying except you and me and Uncle Gord. You both were laughing like usual and I was just happy that you picked me up and gave me a hug and let me play with the dog tags.

   We were all very sad when it turned out that you would not be coming home. (I went to the Cenotaph today and had a moment of silence).Everybody cried for quite awhile after that and things were never quite the same again. My Mom told me that you were a wonderful man (which I knew already) and that my first name which is Robert was given to me because it was your name too. I didn’t know that.

I have to say that since then I have come to understand a bit more clearly what war means and how bad it is. Your war was so bad that we all prayed there would never be another one.

But despite all the prayers, God let us have a few more since then and I’m sure you are only too well aware of that fact. There was Korea and Vietnam and Bosnia and Afghanistan and Iraq and probably a few more little ones in between those. (I even was at a war myself in Lebanon).

Whenever I think about war or hear about it or read and write about it, I think of you. I want you to know that. But I also think about all of us who loved you and miss you and still think about you all these years later.

I sometimes wonder what you must be thinking these days when you see what we’re still up to here on planet Earth.

We’ve stopped defending our own freedom now and are busy trying to make others be like us. I’m sure that must give you a tickle because I know that was the last thing you wanted to do.

Here’s how I see it. You fought and sacrificed your life in a war to defend our freedom from a madman who had attacked our friends and ancestors in Britain and France. Nowadays they’re fighting wars to make others think and live the way we do.

I wonder how you see it.

Love,

Your nephew,
Robert James.

p.s. your grand nephew (my son) tells me that he has it figured out. We in the western countries can’t continue our lifestyle, unless we get people in poor countries to make, do and service things for us. That kills jobs over here; and high oil prices from the old colonies make life more expensive every day. Now the U.S.D. is losing respect and Europeans aren’t all using the dollar to buy oil anymore like they used to. So some people think the Americans invaded Iraq to get their oil. Now they want to attack Iran. It turns out, he says, that Canada is now better off than the U.S. with oil, water, uranium potash etc etc and maybe we’ll be next.

That’s unlikely in my opinion, but a scary thought nonetheless. 

Tags: Huron County, Remembrance, soldier, war