COLLINS: Have our soldiers died in vain

EVERY REMEMBRANCE DAY, I think of those who died on the fields of battle, who gave their lives for freedom. And each year we remind people to remember them. But each year, I wonder if we have let them die in vain.

With all the violence in Ukraine, Syria, Iran, and Africa among other countries, the terror attacks that have taken place almost everywhere, including here at home, where are we headed?

We stand today on guard, laying wreaths as a sign of both grief and hope, but I wonder if it’s all for naught.

The war has moved into our own backyard, and we seem powerless to do anything to stop it. Demonstrators becoming more and more violent and confrontational. Politicians are being attacked, bastions of democracy are being overrun all over the world, politicians on the far right including ex-Presidents and Governors telling outright lies, and we continue to say “Lest We Forget”.