Hi all, Tomorrow is Remembrance Day in Canada. A special day to pay tribute to those who gave so much, or everything, in pursuit of our freedom. My father in law served in WW2. He didn’t loose his life, but by all accounts he lost the joy he had as a younger man. Before he helped to liberate Europe, before he was run over by a German tank, before he was grazed in the neck by a German sniper’s bullet, before he was trained in the deadliest and dirtiest methods of hand to hand combat - he laughed more, I imagine he had much better dreams. Here is his watch, I think it’s from the Legion. Also shown is the commemorative coin issued by the Canadian Mint to honour his unit - shown in a necklace mount so my wife can wear it. A Canadian, he served in the First Special Service Force, a joint US/Canada unit that came to be known as the Devil’s Brigade. He wore a US uniform, but was paid less than the Americans he fought beside - in line with Canadian Army pay scales. The lore goes that Canada recruited the most daring and wolverine-like men to serve in the unit, while the US emptied their stockades to move those miscreants into battle. A movie was even made about this storied unit . Here is his unit badge (from the web, we don’t have his), and an article about his unit and their receiving the US Congressional Gold Medal in 2015 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Special_Service_Force https://www.house.gov/feature-stories/2015-2-6-1st-special-service-force-honored I reflected this morning that, due to COVID, the veterans are not able to be out selling poppies this year to raise funds for veteran’s programs. So I have made a donation online to the Poppy Fund (https://legion.ca/remembrance/the-poppy-campaign/donate-to-the-poppy-fund), and would encourage you to make a donation either there or to a cause that helps end war, or the trauma caused by it. Just for fun, I’ve made some earbud keepers out of some amazing oil-tanned leather and brass hardware with a gun metal finish. There are 2 available for the first folks to ask for one, shipping is on me. All I ask is that you help support a cause (with either money or time) that will help bring a better tomorrow.