Having spent most of my life in Canada, I think of November 11th as Remembrance Day, the day on which people in Commonwealth nations remember the people in their armed forces who died in the line of duty. I live in the U.S. now, where it’s known as Veterans Day, which honors people who have served in the country’s armed forces. On this day, I’d like to extend my thanks to those soldiers who served, which includes my future father-in-law.
Here’s a quick reminder from Canadian news-and-politics satirist Rick Mercer on the need to “remember to remember”:
If you ever get the chance, you should watch a production of Billy Bishop Goes to War, a one-actor-one-pianist musical about the life of Billy Bishop, celebrated Canadian World War I fighter pilot ace, and one of the few to survive an air encounter with Manfred von Richtofen, a.k.a. “The Red Baron”. You’ll learn about the first modern war, and even if you don’t like musicals, you might like this one, as it’s more like storytelling enhanced by songs than a typical all-singing, all-dancing musical production.
Here’s a scene from Billy Bishop Goes to War, as performed by its creators and original performers, Eric Peterson and John Gray. It’s where Billy, then an infantryman with a reputation for being a crack shot and fed up with trench warfare, decides to join the Royal Flying Corps. Gray introduces the scene, which he says is meant to give the audience “permission to laugh”:
