Author's Note
In Canada on November 11th every year, a national holiday known as Remembrance Day, our nation comes together to honour the fallen military personnel who have served our country, every person who has ever served, including those who served before our country existed as it does today, and every person who currently serves in our military. In Canadian schools, at least in Alberta, it is tradition that in honour of Remembrance Day every student at every grade, in subjects such as Social Studies, Art, and English/Language Arts, are given projects to honour our fallen. It is typical that in the English/Language Arts classes, at least for older students who have learned how to write structured prose, that the assignment is to write a poem to either remember those who have served or to remember the sacrifices they have made. I was taught that the tradition was inspired by the work of a Canadian doctor who served during the First World War, John McCrae, and his famous poem, "In Flanders Fields", which is quite often read at nearly every Remembrance Day ceremony throughout Canada each year. I loved this assignment every year and was proud to complete it. The reason for that is because I am the granddaughter of two military veterans and am proud of being from a military family; also, as I am sure you have all figured out from my original works, I am a lover of history. Unfortunately, since I graduated some years ago, I haven't kept up the tradition. This year, I decided to honour both my maternal grandfather, who served in the Canadian Army during the Second World War, and my paternal grandfather, who served in the Royal Canadian Air Force for twenty-five years, as well as my many other relatives who served my nation, both those I know of and those I don't, by writing a poem for them. I hope you enjoy it.
This poem is a thank you note to every person who has ever served in the military in any way that has helped protect the nation that is now known as Canada, my home, and has kept us free.
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The Reason I'm Free By Catrine Valois
Thank you, to all those who have fought;
for me, for my fellow citizens; my nation, my home.
Not just those who have borne the Maple Leaf;
but back, even before Canada was known.
The British, the French, the Acadians, the First Nations.
And thank you to the Allies as well;
if they knew they fought for Canada's future or not.
Whether they fought on foreign soil over a decade ago,
or fought on our lands centuries ago;
whether they fought to free us or keep us free;
whether they survived or laid down their lives.
Thank you, to those whose graves are marked,
and to those whose will never be.
To those who chose to fight,
and those who had no choice.
Thank you, to the families who have given for many generations,
and to those who have given but one.
To the children, for many were just children,
who gave up their futures so we may have ours.
Thank you, to those who fought on,
whether they were unafraid,
or whether they feared what they faced.
For they all are the reason I get to be
exactly who the Lord made me.
They traded their lives for our rights.
So again, I say thank you;
for they are the reason I am free.
