A significant part of our history slipped away last month, but, rightly, the federal government is helping Canadians to remember this part of our past.

On Feb. 18, John Henry Foster (Jack) Babcock died. He was the last living member of the Canadian Armed Forces during the First World War. After the war, Babcock moved to the United States.

The First World War was unprecedented. Never before had so many civilians in countries around the world been mobilized for military action. Entire nations had one purpose: to win a war.

This was a war in which machinery took on a role never before seen. Equipment such as machine-guns, submarines, trucks and planes became the muscle behind the battles.

The toll of the war was horrendous. A total of 650,000 Canadian men and women put on uniforms; 68,000 of them did not live to see the war end. Many other were wounded — some physically, some emotionally.

With Babcock’s death, the government decided to set April 9 as a commemorative day to encourage Canadians to think about the Canadians who died during this war.

The First World War was supposed to be the war to end all wars. Sadly, the veterans who survived this war against Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire realized within two decades that it didn’t accomplish that goal. Many historians argue that the Second World War was but a continuation of the first. Many Germans resented the harsh terms the Allies imposed on Germany after the First World War and they wanted to assert German power.

April 9 will be somewhat like Remembrance Day, although focused on only one war. The sacrifices made in that war should never be forgotten.