Remembrance Day

For most people I know my age and younger it is their grandparents or even great-grandparents that were involved in WWII. Unlike today it was very unusual around the time of my birth for people in their late 30's or early 40's to be having children but that's precisely what my parents did. For that reason I'm only one generation removed from what is still referred to at "the war." It's not the distant past for me. It's my parents. My father fought in North Africa in Italy. My mother lived in Belgium during the German occupation.

Below are some tattered old ribbons from another century that I keep in my father's old jewelry box. The medals they represent are long gone, the corresponding images are from the Ministry of Veterans Affairs website:
 

The 1939-45 Star Awarded for a minimum of six months active service in the army in Europe
Defence Medal Awarded for a minimum of six months overseas service in an area under enemy threat
War Medal (1939-1945) Awarded for full-time service during WWII