If the only things we remember on Remembrance Day are men and women in the armed forces who sacrificed unto death in past wars, we are cheating a great many others who did the same, and we're missing the overarching lesson.

St. Paul's Cathedral was struck by bombs in Oct. 10, 1940; Dec. 29, 1940; and April 17, 1941. As you proceed from the great cathedral down to the Millennium Bridge, you'll see a statue to the firemen who saved St Paul's during the Blitz. But in all of the warring countries, civilian courage under the daily explosions of bombs and incendiaries was every bit as courageous as that displayed by the armed forces.

The list seems endless. Family and neighbours killed and maimed. Sleeping in Tube stations, then going to work, through the rubble. Terrified youngsters. Deep and constant worry about the mailman bringing a letter saying "I am saddened to report."

There was heroism of the highest sort, yet somehow they get forgotten. If ever there was a need for formal recognition, including statues, citizens in war-torn cities provide the heroes.

But there should be more to remembrance than remembering. As our own Canadian poet and soldier Lieutenant John McCrae said:

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.

The First World War was "the war to end all wars." It was for that that Dr. McCrae fought, wrote... and was killed.

It's trite, I suppose, to piously lecture ourselves at times like these with pledges of bringing peace to the world. We know that we've done this ever since Nov. 11, 1918. We criticize the past generation for leaving us this lousy society, then confess that we haven't done any better -- in fact, we're leaving a worse legacy than was left to us.

John McCrae and his fallen soldiers will not be sleeping in Flanders fields.

Related Tyee stories:

• Lest We (the Young) Forget
  A child of the '80s reflects on Remembrance Day.
• Why I Don't Wear a Poppy
  I support freedom, but not war.
• The Poem and the Poppy
  Reading 'In Flanders Fields.' And choosing to wear the flower.
• Magnets for Memory
  Our shrines to lives sacrificed are too important to be left to politicians.