Yep, we have a military Rustic. Looks like the Canadians who fought in the Civil War joined the American army(ies) because they badly needed the job at the time, among other reasons quoted in the article. I don't remember learning that in history class!

Not sure about why the Canuck Vietnam vets get overlooked - except that there was so very few of them compared to other wars, perhaps.

Our population is only 27 million - 1/10 that of the US - about the same as the city of LA? It makes sense from an evolutionary point of view that the top priority for Canadians must be making a living in this harsh climate, not fighting foreign wars. The US has long been the world's leading producer and stockpiler of WMD, so there's not much point in trying to compete, is there?

But Canada continues to maintain only enough of it's Armed Forces to meet it's UN and NATO obligations.    Beefing them up when Uncle Sam calls, of course. And that's only because economically the US is by far our biggest trading partner. Kinda like an umbilical cord, like it or not.

In light of the current situation though, it's sure gettin harder to find reasons to like it, eh?

daylia