Daytripping Winter 2020-21 Issue

Lake Huron
The
Daytripper
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In
Tribute
by Stan Scizlowski, Lasalle
from Daytripping Nov.-Dec. 2008
Here, at Cassino War Cemetery,
where the early morning shadows of
the Montecassino Heights steal slowly,
almost imperceptibly across the gateway
to the Liri Valley, lie buried the earthly
remains of our Canadian comrades.
They gave their lives in a just war to
preserve the freedoms we so dearly
cherish, and now they lie side by side
with their British and Commonwealth
comrades. The rich soil of Italy was
made richer by the flesh and blood they
had so freely given to it.
Their last resting place is one
of incomparable beauty, so nobly
designed, crafted and maintained.
Under the blue skies of spring and
summer the wayward breezes sigh
and murmur through the tall pines and
acacias. Within shade and out in the
warming sun stand rows upon rows of
white headstones that mark
the places where they sleep.
Bright flowering shrubs and
plants grow above them,
and the green, green grass
on which we walk is of the
land they called home. They
are heroes. They gave their
‘all’ as they stood at the
threshold of what should
have been an abundant and
satisfying life. Their dreams
and the dreams of those
who loved them have been
SHOP
NY
LOCAL
shattered on the hard anvil of war.
They know no more weariness
or pain, nor exulting joy, nor tears of
sadness, nor the torments of anger and
despair. They are sleeping. They have
known not the soft caress of a woman’s
love, nor the love of a child in their
arms. So much has been denied them.
They awake not to bright dawns nor
hear the thunder and see the flash of
summer’s storms. The leaves of autumn
scattered not to their tread, nor the
joys of spring greet them in all its glory.
They are sleeping. Though the world
has trembled again and again to the
loud and frightful sounds of war, they
feared not, for their peace is forever.
They have fought the good fight,
have laid down their arms, and are
resting, a sleep that knows no waking,
no tomorrow. We who have walked
safely out of the shadows of the valley
of death will always remember them.
Yes, we will remember them until that
time when we are to climb the long
stairway to eternity.
“They were only in the morning of
their lives when the golden trumpets
called them to eternity.”
MI
ONTARIO
Page 30
with a wink and a smile I moved on to schoolwork:
Winter 2020/21