A Winters Night Walk

Note: This is a departure from my normal writing, it’s not a veteran story but rather an opinion piece I felt compelled to write given the war that has erupted in Ukraine. I don’t expect you to agree or disagree, it’s simply an opinion, but I hope you find it thought provoking.

All the best,

John

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I went for a pensive walk by myself last night through historic downtown of Moose Jaw. The city is lovely at night, and the area that I was walking, known as The Avenues, is particularly scenic. If you get a chance, come and visit this gem of the prairies. 

As I walked, I barely noticed the cold air stinging my exposed skin, my thoughts and senses were absorbed processing the breakout of war in Ukraine. The video clips of what is transpiring, which I had watched earlier in the day, were incredibly disturbing. Homemade videos capturing fast jets screaming overhead, impacting rockets, burning armored personnel carriers, and fleeing civilians had unnerved me. 

There were almost too many feelings to attend to; disbelief, anger, sadness, but mostly a sense of being helpless. A lifetime of training for, or deploying to, a war zone had apparently left a lasting impression on my psyche, which can be summed up in one sentence; “if you see bad things being done, don’t be afraid to stand up and stop it.” Except now I can’t, and what exacerbates that helplessness is the frustration that those who can...won’t. 

This frustration, borne from the fact that I, but also, we as a country, are not there standing alongside those brave Ukrainians helping them defend their sovereignty and freedom, rankles me. Are we a country with the courage of our convictions or not?  

Until the threat of invasion increased, we (Canada) had a small training mission in Ukraine known as OP UNIFIER. But instead of increasing our footprint of personnel on the ground as intelligence grew of possible Russian aggression, we withdrew them. That’s a tough pill to swallow in my books. It sends the message that it was fine to be there when it was safe, but when push came to shooting, we balked…the west balked, and Russia advanced.  

It's the military equivalent of Pink Shirt Day, lots of publicity, fundraising, and photo-ops to support anti-bullying...but it lacked any resolve to stand next to the kid being picked on to help them punch the bully in the face to stop it. 

Politicians, pundits, those educated in foreign affairs and probably many others will disagree with me on my last point. I expect their arguments to be that I’m being insensitive, oversimplifying the complexities, not appreciative of how effective sanctions can be, or the risk of dragging the world into a larger conflict. But my response would still be, “If you see bad things being done, don’t be afraid to stand up and stop it.” 

Easy to say, but harder to do, because it comes with a cost.  

My thoughts turned to this, the cost, as I continued my walk among the historic homes of Moose Jaw.  

The houses I passed, whose windows cast soft warm light onto the sidewalk, were built prior to or during the First World War. I wondered how many once housed men, or the families of men, who went to war and were among the 6,452 Saskatchewan casualties of the First World War or 5,015 of the Second. Were their sacrifices worth it? If yes, why not now? If no, why not now?  

I don’t pretend to know the answer. I suspect it depends on whether your family lost someone who went to fight in the war or was saved or freed as result of their sacrifice. The people of Holland and other nations liberated from the Nazi’s by Canadians and other allied Forces in World War 2 certainly seem appreciative of those sacrifices. In fact, they do more for Canadian Remembrance now than our own society, and that I think is where the problem lies. 

North America hasn’t known war on its soil for at least a dozen generations. Our cities haven’t been bombed (with one notable exception) our children subjected to air raids, rationing, or ruined infrastructure. The anomaly being some of our Indigenous communities, whose living standards and infrastructure might meet the above threshold, which makes the fact that it’s not due to war, but our own negligence and selfishness so dreadfully shameful.  

If more of us knew war, like those who’ve sought refuge from one, fought one, or had families killed in one, I doubt that we would be so content to watch Ukraine as we are; like gawkers passing an accident scene. We are removed and detached, but happy to send our thoughts and prayers, change our social media profile pictures and pose with signs reading “I stand with Ukraine”, thinking we did our part, all the while being grateful it's not us in their stead.   

As I finished my walk and crested the steps to my house, my mind more at ease but still troubled, I had one last thought. If we knew war, like Ukraine does now, if it was us having our infrastructure bombed, watching our grandparents, and loved ones taking up arms to fight in our own streets that days ago we walked peacefully, would we be thankful for the hashtags, or thoughts and prayers? Or would we hope and expect that others would come to our aid, to help us repel an invasion threatening or society and way of life even if it meant they were at risk of great peril?

If you can answer that question honestly, you know that we need to be doing more…lest we find ourselves left to walk alone on a cold winters night like the Ukraine is now.