My eldest son is a musician and sergeant in the Canadian Armed Forces' Air Command Band of 17 Wing, Winnipeg. A trumpet player, Steve spent the first six years of his military career in the nation's capital. You may have seen him on your TV on November 11 playing the Last Post during our country's annual Remembrance Day service on Parliament Hill. In his military service, Steve has also been privileged to play in various countries around the world including Holland, Italy, Korea and France. The international tours are often similar in nature. A small colour party, a bugler, a piper, a couple of politicians and a number of war veterans gather at sites where battles have been fought, lives lost, victories won. The occasions are more commemorative than celebrative. War is an ugly business.

In July, Steve was a member of a Canadian delegation that gathered at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in northern France. Located at the site of one of the fiercest and most strategic battle points of the First World War, the memorial is surrounded by a 250-acre park. Inscribed on the ramparts of the structure are the names of the 11,285 Canadian soldiers who were posted “missing, presumed dead” in France.

During the remembrance service, the haunting sounds of the trumpet and bagpipe served as a reminder that this was sacred ground. Blood had been shed. Thousands of young people never had the opportunity to return to their parents, siblings and sweethearts who anxiously awaited their safe homecoming.

The cost of war is incalculable. Such is the price of freedom.

“To play the Last Post in recognition and remembrance of the thousands of Canadian soldiers who fought and died on that very site for a better world was very humbling,” recounts Steve. “The experience was one I shall never forget.”

More than 90 years have passed since the battle at Vimy Ridge and Canada is once again at war. As the debate regarding Canada's role in Afghanistan continues, Canadian soldiers put their lives on the line every day. The terms of engagement in the theatre of war may have dramatically changed, but the nature of war has not. Regardless of our personal views, none of us is unaffected by the consequences of armed conflict and its eventual outcome. While the benefits of being Canadian are ours to enjoy, we're poorer from the loss of the many Canadian soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the preservation of such freedoms.

Dr. Donald Burke traces the roots of violence in human history and directs us toward the heart of God in his article, “Reconciliation in a War-Torn World” (read article). Dr. Burke frames the issues in a Christian context and suggests what it will take to stop the bloodshed that wars inevitably bring. And in “You Are Not My Enemy” (read article), Major Fred Ash reminds us to see others through the eyes of Christ.

As the Last Post is played by Steve and a host of other buglers throughout the world on November 11, let us pause in the brief moment of silence that follows and promise again never to forget.

Major Jim Champ is Editor-in-Chief and Literary Secretary for The Salvation Army. He is also a member of the Governing Board of the Canadian Council of Churches.