It's 1030 A.M. and unlike exactly five years earlier, the sun is out and it is quite warm. The boy and his uncle were both sitting on the wall overlooking the inner harbor. The had both come down from Zeballos late on friday night and after dropping Nana off at St. Johns Anglican at 10 were now just waiting for the ceremonies. Sunday, November 11 1979, it has been five years since Mark had been to this event. Remembrance Day is observed in England where he has been for that last three or so years, and as he sat there on the wall, he thought quickly about the last service he had been to in Canada. It was the event that had started to mold him into what he knew that he would be. His name, Mark, means warrior. This was the nickname that he took for himself when he left home in April earlier in the year to go live with his uncle. Uncle Bob lived in the logging camp at Zeballos, a logging town on the west coast of Vancouver Island. This town had started out as a gold mine town and had over 20000 people living there. That was a long time ago because when Mark got there, he found only 250 people in town.
As the soldiers paraded by in front of the two relatives, Mark looked for that certain acoutriment that would be different from what the others would be wearing. Then he saw it, only this year he saw about twelve men wearing the blue beret. One woman was also attired in the symbol of the peace keeping soldier. As he pointed out the hats to his uncle, he said "I'm going to wear that hat someday."
"Well the way that you love that army stuff and guns and knives, also that camping you do, I wouldn't be surprised," replied Uncle Bob. "What is that anyway, some kind of special unit or what?"
Mark was surprised that his uncle was not aware of the significance of the blue beret. He then took great pride in explaining what the hat meant and what you had to do to earn one. His uncle again concurred that he didn't doubt that it could and most probably would happen that his nephew would wear the blue beret. Mark had been learning how to shoot and hunt. He was also involved in survival camping. He and his friends in Zeballos could go into the forest on one of their war games and disappear for days but would always be safe. Mark was quickly learning the art of soldiering. He was also learning map and compass work. He would set challenges for himself to see if he could find even the smallest landmark on the map, even if it was 15 miles from home through the toughest bush. He never once got lost.
Get your own Free Home Page
