Dear Editor:
Re: Wait for Me, Daddy statue sends the wrong message, Letters to the editor, The Record, Oct. 8.
I also have a confession to make, I really like the Wait For Me, Daddy monument.
It is with disbelief that I read letter writer Steve Vanden-Eykel's assertion that the Wait For Me, Daddy monument is a celebration of war. It is clear that Mr.Vanden-Eykel has forgotten the differences between celebration and commemoration.
In my opinion the Wait For Me, Daddy photograph doesn't in the least celebrate war; rather it commemorates a moment in time that brilliantly captured the many emotions surrounding going to war. I would suggest Mr. Vanden-Eykel would be hard-pressed to find any community in Canada that doesn't have a monument or photograph depicting their community's involvement in the Second World War, and if he finds such a community I shall confidently endorse him for mayor should he choose to move.
It is of paramount importance that we commemorate such moments in history, and it is our civic responsibility to ensure that the generations to follow us will still remember the sacrifices these men and women gave so we can live free.
It is thousands of photographs and monuments throughout this country like Wait For Me, Daddy that build the very fabric of our community.
Gavin W. Johnston, New Westminster
