Thank You Joe, Thank You Toronto......

I am sure our troops, serving everywhere not just in Afganistan, are bolstered by the support shown at the rally.......

A dream come true

By JOE WARMINGTON

Sometimes you just have to fight for what you believe in.

Our troops believe in this country. And they fight for it.

Sometimes they die.

They die so we don't have to die.

They die so schools can be built for young Afghan children who only dream of the kind of life we have here in Canada.

The brave men and women who are serving in Afghanistan are Canadian heroes.

And yesterday, they were honoured by other Canadians in a special Remembrance Day right here in Toronto.

At some point between the solemn roll call for the 37 Canadian soldiers who have fallen in Afghanistan and the proud testimony of a father whose son was among them, it occurred to me how one week earlier the rally had been but a dream.

The idea of filling that square with red -- red for our troops -- came over me while I was having a coffee at Yonge-Dundas Square.

Yesterday, my dream came true -- boy, did it ever.

When I penned last Saturday's column urging yesterday's rally, I was thinking maybe 35 people would show up.

Yonge-Dundas Square officials estimate that around 3,500 people made up yesteday's vast sea of red.

Terrific.

The number, however, is not as important as the message. The message is one of support to our valiant Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

I believe the troops heard that loud and clear.

"I know how much it means to them," said Sean McTeague, whose wounded son Michael, who is recovering in Sunnybrook Hospital, listened to the event on a radio.

Radio stations AM 640 and CFRB 1010 made sure our troops heard every word of support.

Program directors Gord Harris of AM 640 and Steve Kowch of CFRB 1010 put aside competitiveness and just pumped the heck out of the event for the best of reasons.

Same goes for Q-107's John Derringer, who along with other hosts Bill Carroll, Ted Woloshyn, John Oakley, Craig Bromell and Mark Elliot, ensured everybody knew it was happening.

Thanks also to Paul and Carol Mott ("The Motts").

These people, and so many others, quickly jumped in to help. We could never thank them all.

I do want to send out a special thank-you to Justin Van Dette of Toronto Councillor Bill Saundercook's office and Louise Gray of the Toronto Police Association.

These special people worked 72 hours straight to help turn this dream into something so special.

My gratitude also goes out to Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair and Toronto Police Association president Dave Wilson.

Special thanks to Greyhound for letting us essentially hijack their pre-arranged permit for the Yonge-Dundas Square.

I also can't forget musicians Tim Amick, Pam and Doug Champagne, Hurricane Mike Thompson, Derek Pilgrim and Eddie Coffey for their patriotic tunes.

It was all for the men and women in Afghanistan and for Canadian soldiers stationed in 15 other countries too.

It never hurts to give our troops a pat on the back.

A lot of them have died for us.

Pouring our feelings out for our troops was difficult enough at yesterday's rally, without hearing the news in the middle of the rally that another Canadian soldier had been killed.

But that's war.

And make no mistake, our boys and girls are fighting in one.

Lt. Col. Cliff Trollope, the highest ranking Canadian in Toronto, brought it home when he talked of how brave and selfless our troops are. They just do it. And there are no guarantees they are going to come home alive.

At this moment in time, our troops know that Toronto cares.

A video of the event was sent over on a military supply flight last night.

Our men and women in the field will see their fellow Canadians gathered in downtown Toronto, dressed in red and waving their flags.

They will hear Mayor David Miller talking about his relatives who fought in World War II.

They will hear the songs.

But most importantly, they will hear a wildly patriotic crowd cheering loudly.

And the cheers were for them -- the soldiers!

"It is very emotional when I think of our young men and women over there," Canadian music legend Gordon Lightfoot told the crowd. "I think about them every day, read about them dying in the newspaper and I am very concerned about them."

We all are. Stay safe troops. We know what you are fighting for is worth it.