Address of R.W. Bro. Michael Grima
on His Official Visit to Strong Lodge No 423,
November 09, 2010

 "Lest We Forget"

Brethren, we are all recipients of a priceless gift, one now being passed on from generation to generation. This gift is particularly precious because we never asked for it. It was never for sale, but the price extracted for it was terrifying. Of the original purchasers who managed to return, some were blind, confined to wheelchairs, some lacked arms or legs, I am speaking, of course, of the veterans.

     Whole men had answered the call.

    Vastly different men returned.

November, my brethren, is the month of Remembrance, because on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the firing had ceased and the destructive machines of war lay silent. On November the eleventh, 1918, the Great War (The war to end all wars) had ended.
Or so they thought.
W.W 2 or the “Second World War” was a global military conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945 which involved most of the worlds nations including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances. It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million military personnel mobilised. The war is generally accepted to have begun on September 1st. 1939.

World War 2 casualty statistics vary greatly. Estimates of total dead range from 50, million to over 70 million, making it the deadliest war ever.

The war ended with the total victory of the Allies over Germany and Japan in 1945. World War 2 left the political alignment and social structure of the world significantly altered.

Once a year, we pause briefly to remember those who died in Canada's wars and to remember the others who, with the same resolve, survived. The gifts of both are equally precious, and because of them we can enjoy this enviable standard of living, we can exercise political dissent, and we even have the right to be wrong.

Yes, we have inherited a precious gift, and we are charged with the responsibility to carry the torch high, to keep the faith, to protect and perpetuate our heritage.

Every Mason is charged to ‘fulfill the duties of a good citizen.’ We all wear the red Canadian Maple Leaf lapel pin with the Masonic emblem, the square and compasses, proudly in full view to the public. The Canadian Maple Leaf Flag is displayed in every Masonic Lodge in Ontario as a symbol of Patriotism. It may be noted in passing that our distinguished Bro. Colonel the Honourable John Ross Matheson, a decorated veteran of the Second World War, was the prime mover in the parliamentary process that led to the adoption of the Maple Leaf Flag in 1965.

In every conflict in which Canadian troops have been involved, up to and including the present day, our Brethren have voluntarily answered that call of duty - fought and died for liberty - for family, for comrades, and for country. Memorial plaques recording the names of the fallen Brethren are often found on the walls of lodge anterooms. Services of Remembrance are regularly held during the November meeting in most lodges.

Today, among the men serving under fire in Afghanistan, are many Freemasons. Again, as in 1917, lodges are being held behind the lines where soldiers meet together as Comrades and Brothers. As the toll of Canadians killed increases, the words of R.W. Bro. Sir Arthur Currie delivered in an Address to the Canadian Corps, March 1918, express our thoughts: “To those who fall I say: You will not die but step into immortality. Your mothers will not lament your fate but will be proud to have borne such sons. Your names will be revered forever and ever by your grateful country, and God will take you unto himself.”

Brethren, for your warm hospitality, the fine banquet and your friendship, I thank you.