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On a wall, just outside that door, in our
Secret Garden, is a heavy bronze plaque, with the names of five
young men, probably in their early twenties when they died
inhumanely between 1914 and 1918. All were members of this
congregation.
The plaque reads:
“This tablet is erected by the
members of The Unitarian Church in loving memory of
HAROLD SWANN
THEODORE GLASGOW
MONTAGUE SANDERSON
ORLEY MALCOLM
STANLEY MARTIN
They died the noblest death a man may die Fighting for God and Liberty
Their name liveth for evermore “
Do any of you know any of their names? Have you
ever seen the plaque? It will undoubtedly outlive all of us here and
possibly many generations beyond. Perhaps some of you are related or
descended from some of these young men.
It is estimated that more than fifty million
people - that’s 50 million, were killed, and countless millions more
injured, mutilated and degraded during the Second World War, which
lasted a very long six years, and has left its scars everywhere,
even to this day, and certainly long beyond.
A few of you may have been active, or were
innocent victims in other ways, on all sides, during that war which
raged around the whole world. Most of you would not even have been
born before those times. Those who fought and lived through it would
be over eighty now and perhaps glad that their memories of those
times may be fading.
I served in England during the Second World War
, in the R.C.A.F., in Bomber Command; helping to guide young men and
their planes to their targets in Europe, from a distance, via radar,
and hopefully back to base. But not always. And I can tell you that
I would personally prefer, and I think my brothers, at least one,
would agree that we never again have a Remembrance Day. Because it
brings back ineffable remorse for the undoubted huge numbers of
widows and orphans that we helped create And sadness for the
memories of half of the male graduates of my High School graduating
class, who were dead within almost two years of graduation. Good
friends all, and just beyond their teenage years. But my story is
not unique. Sadly there are millions like it throughout the world.
So: Can war be condoned or justified. Well, I suppose Yes and No.
Certainly almost everyone in Canada condoned it in 1939, and all
those liberated from their oppressive yokes in 1945 knew it was
justified. What cannot be condoned is the tragic stupidity of man-
kind for never have figured out how to prevent the horrors of wars
and killings, and our failure to support the United Nations
Organization enough to effectively do this.
So again we bring to honourable memory , if
only for a day, the bravery, the sacrifices, and the memory of
everyone, known or unknown to us, dead and alive, who struggled
through wars to bring us to this place in our lives, yes, to this
very congregation here today.
These five young men of this congregation might
have become great fathers, or great farmers, or hockey players, or
leaders of this congregation or of this country. So we are keeping
the light of Unitarianism alive for you, Harold Swann, Theodore
Glasgow, Montague Sanderson, Orley Malcolm and Stanley Martin.
You are a part of us forever, And we are a
part of you.
THANK YOU. |
