The last person that ever wants to go to war is a soldier, said Joe Danylenko, an 84-year-old Sooke resident and veteran.
Every year, teachers, including ones from Journey Middle School, will bring their class to the Sooke Legion and Danylenko shows students how wars have affected people right here in Sooke. A wall of heroes who have served and died, all "Sooke boys", are shown.
"I always tell all the children, that's how close the war comes to you. Right to Sooke," he said.
He tells them about Phillip Snape, who is buried at Knox Presbyterian Church on Church Road. Snape served in the First World War in the Victoria Rifles and was wounded in 1918. His painful journey after that involved a ship to a hospital in England, followed by a ship to Halifax and a train out to the hospital at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt.
"He was suffering terribly, because he died in 1920, as a young man, two years of suffering.
"But I always put a poppy there on his grave every Remembrance Day."
Danylenko also acknowledges a "young fella from the Afghan War, a Sooke boy who was killed over there." These people who lost their lives illustrate that the war is not as far away as young people might think.
The number of Canadians who have served and died – more than 118,000 according to Veteran Affairs Canada – could fill Victoria's Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre 16 times over.
Canada has fought in five modern wars. Canadian military history is also known for its peacekeeping missions with the United Nations. Danylenko, who served for 37 years beginning when he was 17, was part of the United Nations peacekeeping in Cyprus in 1968 as a corporal and advanced signalman, handling communications for a company of 150 men.
On peacekeeping missions, Canada's role included reporting shots fired, identifying artillery and patrolling the line of conflict under the protection of the blue United Nations flag. "You try to deflate anything that happens between the two groups," Danylenko said.
Cyprus changed him, especially the moments when they connected with young kids, giving them things like school supplies and chocolates. "It taught me a lot. We're so fortunate in this country."
Coming from a family that has collectively given an estimated 140 years of service, Danylenko is proud of his service and protecting the sovereignty of Canada. But there's one thing he wants people to know about Remembrance Day.
"Remembrance Day is not a day of celebration or a holiday like a lot of people consider it. It's a day of remembrance, and there's nothing to celebrate. Because you shouldn't celebrate war."
It's politicians and world leaders who have the power when it comes to war, Danylenko said, and he stressed the importance of voting in a country where we are very lucky to have the option.
"We've got to remember, and that's what Remembrance Day is all about, remembering the hope that we can stop it from happening again," he said.
