They fought the good fight

The ubiquitous poppy.

As we pause on this day, November 11, 2023, to remember all those who gave us the freedom we enjoy and take for granted every day, I salute the members of both my birth and adopted families who were heroic soldiers. 

When I was a kid, my Mother and aunts would take us all to the Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph in Ottawa to pay our respects to our fallen and serving relatives.  When we had our four, we did the same and today, still watch it on television with respect.

First, I'd like to recognize my Father, Thomas Raymond Griffith.  Born in 1899, he was a brilliant scientist who was head of the rubber lab at the National Research Council.  When natural rubber became unavailable because of the second world war, he was tasked with developing synthetic rubber, an invention that saved the war effort and is still vital to the running of the world.  Because of his work, he was not allowed to enlist; he was too valuable:  

My Dad, Tommy Griffith, with my Mother, Lillian.

My maternal uncle, Rollie Brousseau, fought on the front lines in Italy:  

The last time I saw him before he died.

Brian and his Dad, Ivan Marley-Clarke, captain in the British Merchant Navy in the war.  A very brave seaman.

My birth father, William Doyle who I just discovered.  He was a US Marine and fought in Okinawa.  A brave soldier.

Brian's maternal great-grandfather Walsh, a Colonel in the Indian Irish Hussars, with his two sons, Jack, left, and Brian's grandfather, George Walsh, right.  The regiment was first deployed to India in 1703.  

Clive Marley-Clarke, Brian's uncle, killed by a German sniper in Italy.  He was a Ghurka and only 23 when he died.