This is the Year of the Veteran and the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

On October 23rd, to honour the Year of the Veteran, I co-sponsored a reception for veterans at the Fairview Legion. It was a wonderful event and a great chance to say hello to the veterans who live among us.

To further honour the Year of the Veteran, I am sponsoring an essay contest (or picture contest among the younger kids) at the four elementary schools in my constituency. Those are Chebucto Heights, Fairview Heights, Burton Ettinger and Springvale.

The theme of the essays will be "Why We Honour Veterans."

I have suggested to the schools that they make it a requirement that the students actually meet with a veteran. This could be a family member, friend or neighbour. Alternatively, the schools could invite a veteran to speak with the classes.

Each entry will "earn" a certain amount of money to buy books for the school library.

I felt that, in this way, the memory of our veterans will be kept alive in the children. The Second World War veterans are aging now. The youngest are in their late seventies. It is precisely because of their sacrifice that their children and grandchildren have not had to go to war; but the irony is that, as the war recedes into history, the memory of their sacrifice will grow dim unless we tell and retell their story.

Let us never forget, too, the Korean War, or the dozens of peacekeeping missions in which Canada has served since Suez, or our military members currently serving in Afghanistan and elsewhere in Canada and around the globe.

For example, I'm currently reading "The Ghosts of Medak Pocket," a book by Carol Off about the peacekeeping mission in the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990's. In case anyone thought that Canada hasn't been in combat since 1945 or since Korea, this book tells the story of Canadian soldiers in combat in Croatia in 1993. Canadian soldiers were often put in the most difficult places, because they were the best UN soldiers there. It's a compelling, unsettling story, but it is largely unknown to the general public.

In mid-October I had the opportunity to visit the new Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. It looks unusual, both outside and inside. It is a low building, sitting alongside the Ottawa River, and built to look like a bunker, but with a graceful curve at one end pointing towards the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill.

Inside the museum, there are exhibits covering the wars of Canada's discovery by Europeans, through World War I, World War II, Korea, and the peacekeeping missions. There was far too much to see in one afternoon, so I do hope to go back sometime soon. If you're ever in Ottawa, and have some time, visiting the War Museum is well worth a visit.

To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.