Will we forget?

Between now and Saturday, when The Last Post will be played for Remembrance Day, another 500 WWII veterans in Canada will die.

"That number is going to increase," Jeremy Diamond, manager of the Memory Project for the Dominion Institute, warned yesterday. "You have to think within the next 15 years, most, if not all of World War Two veterans will be gone."

"The average age (for veterans) is in the 80s," said Gail Smith-Cook, spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Legion.

- Of the 628,736 men and women who served in the WWI, only three are left. Two are 106 and one is 105.

- Of the 1,081,865 men and women who served in the WWII, about 200,000 -- only one-fifth -- are alive.

The Dominion Institute, a national charitable organization dedicated to creating active and informed citizens through greater knowledge and appreciation of the Canadian story, has a petition asking the federal government for a state funeral for the last WWI veteran to die. Sign the online petition and show your support.

Although many provinces still recognise Remembrance Day as a statutory holiday, it is not in Ontario, and hasn't been for many years.

When there are none left to tell their story will we remember? Will we still celebrate Remembrance Day?

Update (10/11/06): results of petition