A woman recalls a high school assignment she had where she was to ask a veteran about World War II.
Since her dad had served during the war, she asked him a few basic questions, and then very gingerly asked, “Did you ever kill anyone?”
Her dad got quiet, then in a soft voice said, “Probably; I was the cook.”
As we honored our veterans on Remembrance Day, many true war time stories come to the surface. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, American soldiers were issued an unusual form of protection. Books, known as Heart-Shield Bibles, were designed to fit securely into the chest pocket of a soldier’s uniform. Metal plates were securely attached to the front cover to stop a bullet from reaching the soldier’s heart. Inside the front cover, there was a note to the soldiers from President Franklin D. Roosevelt who advised that many throughout the centuries appreciated the “words of wisdom, counsel and inspiration” found within this book.
These pocket sized books served as a shield numerous times, however years before during WWI a pocket Bible was discovered with a bullet embedded inside. The Bible was eventually returned to the soldier’s son in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, after a 73-year absence. The book had been placed in the breast pocket of the soldier’s uniform when he was shot by an enemy’s bullet. The round penetrated the hardback front cover, but was stopped from traveling any further by the thickness of the book. The bullet halted around 50 pages from the end and the soldier wasn’t harmed.
This particular book had been given to the young man, not by an American president, but by his aunt, who had written an inscription inside the cover. The life-saving gift has been passed down through the family ever since.
Veterans from previous wars such as these, who gave their lives fighting for our freedoms would be very surprised if they were to hear about events which are taking place today.
One such recent event concerns the arrest of an 83-year-old Catholic priest in Ottawa. He was charged with violating Ontario’s new law which prohibits any attempt to advise or influence anyone within 50-150 meters of an abortion clinic. A first time offender could face a fine of $5,000 or six months in jail.
However, the priest was not advising or influencing anyone and made no mention of abortion services. He was simply holding up two signs which read “Without free speech the state is a corpse” and the other read “The primacy of free speech is the cornerstone of western civilization”.
The elderly priest stated, if convicted, he will not pay the fine, but will go to jail. But is the act of being pro-free speech a crime?
While we take time to honor our veterans, let’s not forget to not only remember all that they fought for, but to stand on guard to protect the freedoms they fought for, one of which is freedom of speech.
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