Don't Enlist!
Remembrance Day Reflections
Today is Remembrance Day, and I’m reminded of a moment from years ago when my son was small. We were passing through an airport — Atlanta, I think — and ended up in a food court where three U.S. servicemen were eating their lunch.
So, we did the obvious and inconsiderate thing a lot of people do — we asked for a photo.
Don’t get me wrong, they were kind and gracious. They smiled, welcomed my son into the frame, teased him, and told him about the good parts of military life.
Okay, I’m lying.
They were nice, yes — polite, even warm — but there was something else underneath it. They were tired. Jittery. The kind of men who had either just come from somewhere bad or were headed back to it.
And while they ate their mo shu chicken and humored us with small talk, they gave my son one piece of advice.
All three agreed.
“Don’t enlist.”
That was it.
“Don’t do it.”
We thanked them, wished them well, and went on our way. But those words stuck with me — still do, ten or twelve years later.
They didn’t know we were Canadian. They didn’t know it’s a different system, a different experience up here. But I understood exactly what they meant.
They weren’t speaking about patriotism or politics.
They were speaking about pain.
The job was hard.
The benefits weren’t worth it.
And the mission — whatever it had once been — didn’t feel clear anymore.
In Canada, we don’t look at our military the same way.
When recruiters show up at high schools here, they talk about education, opportunity, and service. They’re looking for the best of the best — the smartest, the brightest, the engineers, the thinkers, the doers.
When I was in high school, if I had wandered up to the military booth in the cafeteria on career day, they would’ve turned me away politely. That’s how we do it in Canada. They would have said, “You’re not smart enough. Your grades aren’t high enough.”
Our military isn’t perfect — I don’t claim it to be. But its mission is to serve.
And not just to serve the country, as the phrase goes. To serve humanity.
When you see a Canadian military ad — on the rare occasion you actually do — you don’t see soldiers storming villages or blowing things up. You see them pulling children from rubble, sandbagging riverbanks, or jumping out of helicopters into freezing water to save lives.
Yes, they carry guns — they have to. But the goal of our military has always been to keep the peace, not to escalate suffering.
That’s what we try to sell to those who have the desire to serve — not domination, not glory, not a highlight reel of action and explosions.
The action comes from doing good.
The excitement comes from helping others.
So today, if you’re celebrating Remembrance Day, or Veterans Day, or whatever you call it where you are — don’t just think of the fallen.
Think of those who still serve.
Those who will serve next.
Those who serve with purpose.
I won’t say thank you for your service.
Because I think I just did.
Don’t like what I have to say?
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