The following poem was submitted by Orillia's George Biss, a 96-year-old Canadian Air Force veteran.
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AT SEVENTEEN
At seventeen, as I saw friends die
Children who were men, I wondered why
How could this flag that we salute
Demand their youth to kill, to shoot
But now in this year of twenty-two
I'll pause for a moment, to remember the few
Who lie with many others, in my own way
At the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day
And I'll think too of the fathers and mothers
The wives and children and so many others
Who never said goodbye, never had the chance
As the devil of war, did his dance
I'll wonder, why is it, we only think
One day a year or after more than one drink
Of these boys, who were asked to be men
In those terrible days, way back when
George Biss
Orillia
