Danielle MacDonald

Journal

One thing that the soldiers could always count on was their comrades, their friends. Different generations mixed and bonds got stronger. When the boys enlisted into the war, they didn’t know what they were getting themselves into, the horrors that waited for them there. The transition was harder for them because they felt so betrayed by their teachers and their families. Some of them were looking for a sense of accomplishment, satisfaction, honour, or even glory. Maybe even to walk in the footsteps of their father’s or just plain make their father proud. They went as groups of friends; and died out on the battlefield together, as comrades, as a team! Going home was not an option for any of them and they would never get the chance to see their families, or even attempt to make a life for themselves; not because they chose not to, because they had no choice. They had no choice.

Journal

In a situation such as war, how would you keep your head about you? I think if I was in that kind of predicament, I wouldn’t be able to take it. Fighting for something that continually seemed unreachable, always thinking of home, and knowing that the world and all these men would never really recover from this war would be unbearable. Who are these people you are killing? For all you know, they might have a mother, a loving wife, and a child who is eagerly awaiting their return to show him all the pictures he drew of his daddy who fought in the war and is a big hero. You shot them. You are responsible not only for his death, but for the sadness of his family. It’s his blood on your hands. And that’s just one man, what about the others, lying there in the mud. Is that really an appropriate way to die? Is dying for your country really a good enough reason to deal with that the rest of your life?

Journal

He is unaware that his leg has been amputated. He is sitting in a bed in a hospital and all his friends can think about is the fact that he has a nice, sturdy pair of boots sitting there that he can’t use whether he makes it out of here or not. Even if he does, all they can think is that he’ll only need the one. To think that in this situation, they could go so low as to see their friend’s death as only an opportunity for a new pair of boots seems so inhumane. In a time like this, to most your comrades would be your pride and joy, the people you cherish the most over everything because there, in the trenches, your comrades are all you have and all you ever will have in most cases. They were the only real thing you have to hold onto. And it’s not even that they were low for the thought of stealing their friend’s boot on his deathbed. I think that there was an instinct that kicked in. They knew that when it came time to head back to the trenches, a good pair of boots would be hard to come by and that any opportunity they got, they should take advantage of.

Journal

The importance today of the organisations like Veterans Affairs Canada is so unreal. They have such great ideas about how to preserve the memories of fallen soldiers and how to pass on the memories of those who survived. There are currently two soldiers living from WW1 and to think of all the memories in those two heads alone, is beyond imaginable. DVA has made a point of making interactions between Canada’s youth and Veterans today because it is important that we hear their stories and see their mistakes. Those mistakes, not necessarily made by them, but by their government, should never be made again and the insight coming from some Veterans can change a person’s opinion on all politics to do with war. Even just to hear their stories, and preserve their memories in it-self pays respects to them and those who have fallen. They are not forgotten.