The thought had never crossed my mind that many of the young men who went off to war were enrolled in university. Young people who were bettering themselves, and investing in their own futures. Students who willingly forfeited their own educations so that future generations could have educations of their own. Today, I learned the names of the many McMaster University students who went off to Europe, and decades later Afghanistan, to never return.
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The names of the McMaster students who were killed in action.
On the list of names under 1939-1945 was one that I recognized. In Binbrook, Hillgartner is a family name that has been in my community since the beginning. The name Roy H. Hillgartner is one that I've seen over at Binbrook's cenotaph, and heard read aloud, many times over the years. Now I know that not only was he a Binbrook boy, but he was a post-secondary student when he enlisted and died.
The university Chancellor, Suzanne Labarge, got up to give us an address. She spoke briefly of the National War Memorial in Ottawa, and how this year the names of the lives lost from the Afghanistan mission will be added. More importantly, though, she spoke of the Silver Cross mothers. This year's Silver Cross mum, who hails from New Brunswick, lost her son in 2009 in Kandahar. Aside from the mother for this year, the Chancellor decided to speak of the Silver Cross mother for 1947.
The mother for that year had lost two of her sons in Europe in the Second World War. One was a Flight Sergeant who was killed on September 30, 1942. The other was a Pilot Officer who was killed on March 12, 1943. The mother and her husband learned of the deaths of their sons on the exact same day, despite the boys dying a year apart. As for what else we students learned?
"The National Silver Cross Mother in 1947 was listed in the Order of Service as Mrs. C.H Labarge. I knew her better as Nana. I never knew my Uncle Leo or my Uncle Bernard."
That's right. The Silver Cross mum for 1947 was Chancellor Labarge's grandmother.
I also learned that student Bernard Trotter, killed in WWI, was the son of a McMaster professor. He also had a piece of his poetry published in Harper magazine while he was still a student. Images of what could have been.
In my morning mythology class, which I had before the service, the prof asked us, via poll, why it's important to us that the war dead be buried at home. Many said so the families could pay their respects and say goodbye. Others, as motivation for the future. I said because it feels right. He asked me to elaborate. I had said that home is where we are often born, it's where we're raised, where our family is, a place where feel like we belong. Everyone deserves to be buried where they felt the most belonging.
The students who were killed in action may not have been buried on the university grounds, but as we were reminded today, they were part of our McMaster family. A place, living or dead, where they will always belong.
It was a very different service for me today, especially since I'm so accustomed to going to the one at Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. There was no reading of In Flanders Fields, and those crucial lines from For the Fallen weren't recited. Instead, there was the reading of a piece of poetry from one of the deceased students. Today was a service for students about students.
I am very fortunate, especially for a female. I live in Canada. I'm not oppressed, have I never been, and in this country I never will be. I'm treated as an equal. I carry myself with dignity, respect, and my head held high. And because a number of McMaster students were willing to sacrifice their own educations, I'm able to read, write, study literature, and compose elaborate essays. I'm able to have an education of my own. An education that I will forever appreciate differently.
And thus concludes another year of 11 Days of Remembrance. For more on remembrance, please refer back to posts from previous Novembers. Don't forget to read again next year when I do the 2015 edition.
