In Every Little Village

I've seen them. In every little village across England and Scotland, they’re there. They’re found across Canada from the Maritimes to the Prairies to British Columbia. Sometimes they are at the crossroads where they can’t be missed, and sometimes they’re off to the side, shielded from the traffic and the bustle. When you know what they are, they become irresistible. When I see one, I have to stop, then approach in reverence. The names are usually toward the bottom where the monument is wider, and often they are on every side. In some towns the list is shockingly long, but in others there may be only a dozen or so. There’s a solemn irony for you. From this tiny village of perhaps three-score houses only a dozen were killed.