Friday, February 12, 2016
“At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.” Lord Binyon, 1869-1943.
Those words are immortal and are imprinted in the mind of each sailor, soldier and airman who ever served and who stepped forward and said, ‘ Ready, Aye, Ready’ when his country called. So it was with Warren when his country called and sent hardy Canadian servicemen to a far-off land few Canadians had ever heard of in June 1950- South Korea. Perhaps it was that the Korean Peninsula was half-way round the world from Canada or perhaps it was that too few Canadians took the time to learn of the Korean War and its legacy to the world, or perhaps it was that it was thought of a simple police action and so was termed a ‘conflict.’ But for Warren and 27,000 other Canadians, it was a real war every much as horrific as World War One and World War Two.
Lord Binyon’s poem, ‘Far the Fallen,’ also has these words: “But where our desires are and our hopes profound, felt as a well-spring hidden from sight, to the innermost heart of their own land they are known, as the stars are known to the night.”
My wife, Shirley, and I number among our long acquaintance with Warren, our days in South Korea in July 2015. His presence made the visit just that more pleasant.
And so, we say farewell to a good friend, a Korean War veteran who saw and sought only good in his fellow man and who until his final day on Earth, was above most others. Now, he rests with our God in a place far more wonderful than Earth.
Bob Orrick, former national public information officer, KVA Canada.
