There is no negating the fact that War should be remembered. In terms of the First World War and Canada, this war was a pivotal turning point for the nation. Upon its onset, no one imagined that it would be the long bloody battle that it became, because it was all new. It did not take long for soldier and at home civilians to embrace phrases such as “keep the faith” and “hold the torch” (Vance 201) because moral needed to remain strong. Imagine a fighting force and its followers not keeping dedicated and positive, it would lead to the crumbling of their armies. Jonathan F. Vance notes in Death So Noble: Memory, Meaning, and the First World War that “if the sacrifices were fixed firmly enough in the public consciousness through various form of commemoration, the myth of the war would become self-perpetuating and would not need Canadians …show more content…
Whether it is a utilitarian or an aesthetic memorial has a significant role in shaping how Canadians view the past. Often it is the idea of raising a campaign that brings together diverse aspects of a community to help root them towards a common goal or cause (208). It also serves as a way to remember the legacy of the fallen (209), reiterating this idea of a community or group of people coming together in memory. Without this pressure and value placed on public history it becomes challenging to see how long a group, or body of people, can keep the faith. Public memory serves “to teach this spirit to the young” (211) and create continuing generations of understanding and valued Canadians. It should be noted that commemorations do not often commemorate the actualities of war but build a dialogue around it (216). Vance notes that it was the sprit that should be noted and remembered from the battle at Vimy Ridge and that those who had both fallen, and made it home alive, should be commended. Canada is “a land worthy of its heroes” (223). In Canada, war and public memory have become