WE ALL CANNOT BE HEROES . . . SO WE THINK:
It’s Veterans Day In America . . . Remembrance Day in Canada.
When Your Country Calls On You To Serve, and you Don the Uniform, is the Beginning of an Adventure that will Tell you Who You Are & What You’re Made-Of.
85-Years Ago . . . Germany Invaded Poland (September 1, 1939). England, Through a Mutual Defense Treaty with Poland, Declared War on Germany (September 3, 1939) . . . and Within the Space of a Few Days (September 10, 1939), My Dad – Israel (Eddy) Galganov, with Three of His Brothers, Signed-Up with the Canadian Army to Fight the War that Lasted 6-Years (1939-1945).
Canada Had No Out-Of-Country Military Conscription. You Signed-Up to Fight Because you Wanted to Fight. Those who Didn’t Want to Fight, Served on the Home Front.
But Miraculously, Canada, With A Diminutive Population Of About 11-Million People, Sent Neary 50% of all Available Men & Women of Military Age Overseas to Rid the World of the Scourge of Fascism (Nazism).
And Long Before D-Day (June 6, 1944 – Eight Months Before) . . . General Patton Commanded the Invasion of Sicily (July 9, 1943), which Set the Tone for D-Day that Led to the Allied Sweep Across Europe . . . That Eventually Ended World War Two.
My Dad . . . Eddy Galganov . . . Along with Fellow Canadian Soldiers Were Part of that Invasion of Sicily, Where my Father was Wounded at the Battle of Monte Casino, and Refused to Leave the Fight Until the Fight was Done . . . Exemplified Courage, Determination & Loyalty to God, King & Country . . . He Was One Of More Than Millions Of Heroes From The Greatest Generation.
I WRITE ABOUT WORLD WAR TWO – NOT TO DIMINISH ALL OTHER WARS:
I Write About WWII . . . Because that’s the Strongest Connection I Have to Personal Heroism through Close Family-Ties. But Courage in Battle Spans the Millennia from the Time of the Ancient Greeks, Romans, Persians, Israelis – Etc . . . To Date.
There Is Nothing More Noble Than Going To War For A Virtuous Cause, and there is No Greater Sacrifice than Giving One’s Life . . . So Others Can Live.
Today . . . I Am Wearing My Poppy In Memory Of My Incredible Dad & Uncles, and because of the Greatest Respect I Have for all Men & Women Who Donned the Uniform of their Respective Countries . . . To Fight For A Righteous Cause.
To All Who Wear The Colors . . . Whether They See Battle Or Not – They Are Heroes.
AT 11/11 TODAY – I WILL STAND IN SILENCE & RESPECT FOR ALL WHO SERVED:
I Will Remember My Dad, the Way He Looked as He Stood at the Cenotaph in Downtown Montreal for Many Years of Remembrance Day, Alongside Men with Whom He Served on the Battle-Field, In The Trenches & Along The Miles Long Marches.
I Remember The Glint Of Pride In My Dad’s Eye, as He Stood in Formation Wearing His Military Beret, Legion Blazer & Medals Across His Chest, just Before He & His Former Comrades-In-Arms Began their March to the Armory, Where They Would Dine Together While Exchanging War Stories Of Many Years Gone-By.
I Will Try To Picture My Dad Jumping Into The Ocean Off The Landing Craft, as He Stormed the Beach in Sicily. And I Will Remember all the Stories of Bravery He Never Told Me Of Himself, Like Being Honored by the Queen of the Netherlands (Wilhelmina) For Extreme Bravery Above & Beyond The Call Of Duty.
I Will Remember As He Grew Older, which Made it Harder for Him to Stand & March with a Dwindling Number of Vets, Where in Montreal, Remembrance Day was all But Being Ignored by the Younger Generation.
I Will Remember The Day . . . My Dad Became Too Old & Frail To Pay Homage To Himself & Comrades.
BUT MOST OF ALL . . . I Will Remember The Day Of My Dad’s Funeral, When the Main Hall of the Funeral Parlor was Filled to Over-Capacity, with Some Men & Women who Came in Uniform, Some I Knew, Many I Did Not, who Came to Honor a Real Hero, As My Dad’s Flag-Draped Coffin Sat Prominently Before All Who Came To Say Thank You & Goodbye.
My Dad’s Story Was & Is The Story Of Millions More Just Like Him, Who Deserve all the Respect & Gratitude We Can Muster, Because Without Their Sacrifice, We Would Not be a Free People Living a Life of Great Privilege & Opportunity.
LEST WE FORGET:
In Flanders Fields The Poppies Blow
Between The Crosses, Row On Row,
That Mark Our Place; And In The Sky
The Larks, Still Bravely Singing, Fly
Scarce Heard Amid The Guns Below.
We Are The Dead. Short Days Ago
We Lived, Felt Dawn, Saw Sunset Glow,
Loved And Were Loved, And Now We Lie,
In Flanders Fields.
Take Up Our Quarrel With The Foe:
To You From Failing Hands We Throw
The Torch; Be Yours To Hold It High.
If Ye Break Faith With Us Who Die
We Shall Not Sleep, Though Poppies Grow
In Flanders Fields.
To All Those Who Wore The Uniform For Me To Be Free . . . Thank You.
Best Regards . . . Howard Galganov
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20 Comments
Beautiful words HG, thank you. And thx to the many Canadians who served. We owe them so much!
For ALL Those Who Have Served, A Heart full of Thanks AND Gratitude! Oooo-Rha
Thank you Howard. I was too young for WWII and Korea. I was in the USN at the onset of “The Cuban Blockade”. Enterprise steamed close enough to Cuba that you could see where the excavations were where missiles were going to be placed. I will never forget. “Freedom is not Free”.
Howard, I honor your father and mine for their bravery and sacrifice for our freedoms. What a generation! Honor and thankfulness for all who served! Good bless Canada and the USA!
Add my thanks to your dad, my uncle who lost his life, and the many others who served to protect this country and the world in WW2
Rest In Peace, my Brothers.
Howard, our fathers served with pride and love for their countries. Yours for Canada and my for the former USSR. My father was a fighter pilot in the Soviet air force. He added 2 years to his age so he could be accepted into the pilot school. Everywhere were Jews lived they served their home countries with utmost devotion & effort. My grandfather on father’s side perished in that war. My grandfather on mother’s side came home with no toes on both of his feet, amputated due to severe frost bite
A Churchill quote. “Never has so much been owed to so many by so few.” My father joined the Navy as a teen immediately after Pearl Harbor. Came home after the war with PTSD, tho there was no name for it then. Always a quiet man, he never spoke of his service. Nor the ship on which he served. / We remember. ♥️ / i have family in uniform. ♥️
Thanks, Howard for your words in remembrance. And thanks for your dad and many others that we’re all a huge part of the liberation of my home country. Thank you.
What a beautiful comment to an exceptional father by an equally exceptional son. I am so proud to call you a friend. Yes, today is special for all who enjoy freedom. Andy Réti Toronto
My father and all my uncles signed up together when war was declared. All branches see. My Dad was in the RCNVR stationed in Halifax. H MCS Cowichan. Minesweeper. See
May I take a minute in your column to remember my father William H. Novick, MD who died just over a year ago in Montreal at age 99 after having retired from his practice of medicine (ENT surgeon) at age 97, one of McGill’s longest practicing physicians/professors. After serving as a bomber pilot in the RCAF w many sorties over Nazi Germany he was recruited by the Haganah and was the last surviving Machal (foreign volunteer) pilot from 1948. YouTube “Boaz Dvir PBS documentary Wing and a Prayer
Beautifully written, thank you —— brought tears to my eyes. And, yes, I served with honor in the US Army: 1955-1958.
Amen!
Indeed & amen. For all those who answer the call within themselves to serve our country, to those no longer with us & those serving today, I give my whole gratitude. Their unselfish service or for some the sacrifice of their life has paid the price so we can live free. It is a solemn thing to drive through Arlington Cemetery on the way to visit my husband’s grave. And there are many such cemeteries throughout the country. We are grateful to each & every one of them.
Thank you for this lovely, heartfelt tribute to veterans everywhere. Our gratitude and love for them is never-ending.
Bless your dad and all those who went to serve their countries in order that the people left at home would be safe and, in our cases, free to live their lives. I had the great privilege to volunteer with a wonderful charity whose mission was to bring wounded veterans, their caregivers and loved ones, and Gold Star families to enjoy a week of being pampered -to escape and relax—all at our expense. It taught me much about sacrifices made by our heroes and their loved ones.❤️🇺🇸❤️
My oldest brother at the age of 15 1/2 was probably with the same assault team with you father in Sicily and he traveled the same route through Sicily, Italy and on to Belgium. He was old enough to enlist when the war was over. Lest we forget.
So many of our ancestors fought and died for a culture of freedom and Judeo / Christian beliefs . Yesterday , for the sake of woke inclusivity , our Canadian military chaplains weren’t allowed to publicly recite any Christian prayer’s ON Remembrance day. What a huge lack of respect and deference to what our country / culture once was. Keep letting in people who don’t give a s… . I pray our soldiers did not serve in vain. May God bless them all. Am i missing something ??
Howard, our dads were heroes! My dad signed up with the US Army when he didn’t have to and served in N Africa with the British 8th Army and then was US Military Government in Italy and Austria. He left his mother, wife and child to serve and did so proudly returning home as a Lt Col in a hospital ship to NYC having malaria at the time. He seldom spoke of the war or what he witnessed. God Bless the Greatest Generation!
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