Remembrance and prisons

November 11 is always a soft and quiet day around our family gatherings. We remember the two uncles who fought in the first world war, one of them especially as he died in the trenches of France. His name was Ismael Boivin. the second world war brought more sad memories. Both my father and my husband's father were overseas. They were both in battles. My father was so severely wounded that the army reported him as missing in action and likely dead to his family. He was speaking German, his first language, while in the coma, so they thought he was a prisoner. Once that was cleared up, he worked in intelligence for a year until the end of the war.

Every year we all wear our poppies with pride. This year, however, was different.

My son is in one of Canada's prisons. There, he lives a lifestyle not unlike that of a prisoner of the Nazis. In years past, he was able to organize poppy sales and all the inmates wore their poppies on November 11. This year, the powers that be cited unstated security concerns regarding the wearing of poppies by prisoners. No one was permitted to purchase one, or get one brought in, or have a staff member provide one. It changed the atmosphere completely inside those stone walls. Pride of country diminished again.

Please write to the Royal Canadian Legion near you or to their headquarters to voice your concern about this terrible decision. This was the first November 11 in 30 years that my son was not permitted to wear a poppy to remember his grandfathers and their sacrifices during World War II

http://www.legion.ca/Home/SiteHome_e.cfm

Thank you for reading.

Coach Elouise
http://coachelouise.com