Afghanistan veteran says remembrance is important By: LISA KEOUGH

An Afghanistan war veteran says Remembrance Day is the most important day of the year to anyone in uniform. Master Warrant Officer Doug MacDonald, a 26-year veteran of the Canadian Forces recently spent six months in Afghanistan and knows first hand how important remembrance is.Being in Afghanistan, you get to see stuff first-hand, says MacDonald.“It just hits home that much more.”MacDonald says people should talk to the veterans and learn what they had to go through during the war.“Go up to them (veterans) and shake their hand, and say thanks to them, I'm sure it must mean a lot to them.”Since the war in Afghanistan began on Oct. 7, 2001, 133 Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan. MacDonald says it's hard to imagine living during the First and Second World Wars where there were nearly 100,000 people were killed.“You just can't comprehend that now. We're looking at a little over 100 have died in the Afghan conflict in the last nine years.”Working in a headquarters while in Afghanistan, MacDonald never suffered any hardships like those who fought in other wars, and says that the more miserable the day on Remembrance Day, the better.“I think that is excellent, because, you know, the more miserable you are on parade, and you're sitting there listening, listening to the Last Post, and you're hearing the guns go off on the 21-gun salute, and you're cold and miserable, I think that puts it a lot more in perspective than a nice warm, sunny day.”MacDonald says he's embarrassed when he meets a veteran on the street, and doesn't have a poppy on.“When you see a veteran walking on the sidewalk, if you've switched jackets, and you don't have a poppy on, I'm almost embarrassed, I'm like 'oh no, I've switched jackets.'”Veterans are no longer just the aging men we see, says MacDonald, they can be 20-years-old.“People are coming back now, 20, 21-years-old with their first tour down, and they're veterans, and they're getting ready to go back.”For most Remembrance Day ceremonies, you won't find MacDonald in the parade, he is usually in the background firing the Howitzers for the gun salute.“You almost have to take it upon yourself to do your own Remembrance ceremony because I really miss them. I'm usually in the background.”To MacDonald, and most Canadians, the poppy symbolizes remembrance for the soldiers who have died. He says another soldier from the Regiment keeps a poppy in his vehicle year round, and when asked if he just doesn't clean his truck, he said it's there for a reason.“He answered, 'No I keep it all year round, to remember, rather than just one season of the year.'”As a citizen, MacDonald says it's great how much public support there is for veterans.“It must do the veterans good, you know every year there's so many fewer of them obviously for World War Two, theres very few left.”History is doomed to be repeated if we don't know our past, said MacDonald.“If people don't remember the past sacrifices, and if you don't know history, you're doomed to repeat it, so a lot of people think twice before doing something that would further cause a conflict if they remember, or if they were involved in the past ones. And people don't have to do a lot to remember. Just remember the sacrifices people made, its a big 'thank you' to the people who went over.”It is important for young people to remember too, MacDonald says. “If somebody is willing to go and to put down their life for freedom, for a cause they believe in, then its a very small sacrifice that someone can make at home, is to remember them. And not just on Remembrance Day.”