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This past weekend, Innisfil, or rather, the hamlet south of Barrie known as Belle Ewart, made the front page of the Saturday Star. The unfortunate fact is, with all of the great things going on in the community, whether a summer event, a fund raiser, or a ground breaking ceremony for a state of the art facility, we made the paper under the headline, "National disgrace, part II".

Under the heals of National disgrace, part I, the July 1 incident at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, we made headlines for the vandalism of our cenotaph.

Upon arriving at the scene of the crime, many emotions took over for me disgust, anger, shock, shame. Disgusted that it had happened, angry that it did, overwhelming shock after watching and reading coverage of the Ottawa incident and thinking about the low life scum who could do such a thing, and a ringing shame that could not leave the soul.

We are all human and we all make mistakes, but acts, deliberate acts that are done with a lack of moral fibre, are inexcusable. This was not an act that was thought out. This was not an act of conscious. This was a copy cat crime. This was something someone did without thinking about the meaning behind what they were doing.

The rallying from the community, our friends and neighbours, reminds us of something this is a great community. People have offered money, money they probably cannot afford to give up, and continue to do so. Contributions for the apprehension of the vandals and for the replacement of the cenotaph reminds you of the general goodness of our fellow citizens.

There is the old saying which reminds us that there is always one or two bad apples in the cart.

If you are the one or two bad apples who went out last week and purposely vandalized the Legion's, the community's, cenotaph, listen up;

These men and women fought for your freedom. They put their lives and families on hold, travelled to a foreign land, and secured your future. Whether a veteran of the World Wars, Korean War, or fighting to keep a safe and secure Afghanistan, veterans deserve your respect.

Tearing a cross and smashing the top of a monument, shows your lack of morals, values and courage something these men and women have that you do not.

I hope the person(s) responsible come forward. Do I think they will? No.

The three men who urinated on the National War Memorial in Ottawa have been identified, and have apologized; one submitted a letter to the Ottawa police, and another apologized on CTV news.

Out of the three, the third youth who showed up to the legion in Ottawa and made a formal apology got the point. He faced up to his actions, took the tail from between his legs and took the high road. What he did will etched in many Canadians minds for years to come, but facing the veterans as he did, is the most moral course of action he could have taken.

Step up to the plate take action for what you have done and apologize to the men and women at the Belle Ewart Legion! That is the least you could do for the men and women who made sacrifices you couldn't even dream of.