Today I attended a national commemorative ceremony honouring all of Canada's First World War service men and women to pay tribute to their achievements and contributions. The ceremony was held at the National War Memorial -- a symbol of the sacrifices of all Canadians who have served Canada in times of war in the cause of peace and freedom.
It was held today, April 9, 2010, "Vimy Ridge Day."
This special ceremony was held to mark an important historical moment. On February 18, 2010, John "Jack" Babcock, Canada's last known Veteran of the First World War passed away. This event marks the end of an era in Canada’s military history.
Veteran's Affairs has created a special section on their website called End of an Era to remember the war-time sacrifice and achievements of our First World War service men and women—and the considerable cost of human life. More than 170,000 were injured and more than 68,000 lost their lives.
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=feature/crfww
There was a 21 gun salut, a flypast by a First World War vintage aircraft, as well as a Missing Man Formation flypast of CF-18 jets. All of these were very moving.
Governor General Michaelle Jean gave a moving speech as well. Here is the text.
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The freedom we enjoy in this country came at a very high cost.
Unfortunately, it is not shared by most people on the planet and is still fragile today.
At the turn of the last century, men and women were called to defend this freedom and paid dearly for their sacrifice.
John Babcock was the last Canadian soldier who could tell us about that war, the First.
It was a war known for its killing fields.
It was a brutal and perilous war fought in the trenches, one in which an entire generation of young people courageously braved gunfire and cannons, often at great peril to their lives.
After surviving one of the bloodiest centuries in history and setting a remarkable record for longevity, John Babcock died at the venerable age of 109.
Neither he nor anyone else is left to talk about it, but their spirit lives on in the memories of those of us honouring them today.
I believe a ceremony like this has no meaning unless we who survive—and unless future generations—recognize that the memory of these men and women whose heroic acts determined the fate of all of humanity, including our own, is extremely precious.
Precious because memory lasts much longer than we do, longer than stone monuments.
Precious also because of the wisdom we draw from it, wisdom that lights the path before us, towards a world that is increasingly peaceful.
While it is important that we acknowledge the magnitude of the contribution made by our veterans, it is just as important to recognize that of the men and women who, still today, go to trouble spots around the world to free entire populations from the yoke of tyranny.
The heritage left by the men and women who fought for greater justice, for greater freedom, for greater humanity, must stand the test of time.
It is our greatest responsibility.
To those who came before us, and to those who follow.
We must never forget.
It was held today, April 9, 2010, "Vimy Ridge Day."
This special ceremony was held to mark an important historical moment. On February 18, 2010, John "Jack" Babcock, Canada's last known Veteran of the First World War passed away. This event marks the end of an era in Canada’s military history.
Veteran's Affairs has created a special section on their website called End of an Era to remember the war-time sacrifice and achievements of our First World War service men and women—and the considerable cost of human life. More than 170,000 were injured and more than 68,000 lost their lives.
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=feature/crfww
There was a 21 gun salut, a flypast by a First World War vintage aircraft, as well as a Missing Man Formation flypast of CF-18 jets. All of these were very moving.
Governor General Michaelle Jean gave a moving speech as well. Here is the text.
----------------
The freedom we enjoy in this country came at a very high cost.
Unfortunately, it is not shared by most people on the planet and is still fragile today.
At the turn of the last century, men and women were called to defend this freedom and paid dearly for their sacrifice.
John Babcock was the last Canadian soldier who could tell us about that war, the First.
It was a war known for its killing fields.
It was a brutal and perilous war fought in the trenches, one in which an entire generation of young people courageously braved gunfire and cannons, often at great peril to their lives.
After surviving one of the bloodiest centuries in history and setting a remarkable record for longevity, John Babcock died at the venerable age of 109.
Neither he nor anyone else is left to talk about it, but their spirit lives on in the memories of those of us honouring them today.
I believe a ceremony like this has no meaning unless we who survive—and unless future generations—recognize that the memory of these men and women whose heroic acts determined the fate of all of humanity, including our own, is extremely precious.
Precious because memory lasts much longer than we do, longer than stone monuments.
Precious also because of the wisdom we draw from it, wisdom that lights the path before us, towards a world that is increasingly peaceful.
While it is important that we acknowledge the magnitude of the contribution made by our veterans, it is just as important to recognize that of the men and women who, still today, go to trouble spots around the world to free entire populations from the yoke of tyranny.
The heritage left by the men and women who fought for greater justice, for greater freedom, for greater humanity, must stand the test of time.
It is our greatest responsibility.
To those who came before us, and to those who follow.
We must never forget.
I have to comment on my own post just to say I am proud of myself for figuring out how to include a picture.
ReplyDeleteI'll be accepting accolades all day.
Mary
I am touched by both Mary's and Steve's reports of the importance of this day to them.
ReplyDeleteI, too, have toured places in Europe where these battles were fought, toured them with a reverence that springs from within me. It is not the quiet of the graveyards, the well tended sites, the monuments that pay hommage to the fallen, though that may be some of what I feel when I am there.
For me, the collective memory that has been instilled in me -- the history lessons in school, the stories of those who lived through those days, the movies about war, Timothy Findley's book (was it called The Soldier) -- it is all of that the comes together when I first saw the crosses that honour the fallen.
Again, thank you Steve and Mary.
Arta
Msry and Steve and Arta: I'm so glad that I, in my earliest stages of becomming a blogger, came upon this conversation. I recalled the recently past November 11, Rememberance Day. I was in Care West and was one of only about four or five patients plus a couple of staff members. After watching the TV broadcast from Ottawa,the staff member in charge initiated the sharing of memories. A very self impressed, disabled patient told about entering the forces just at the end of the Second World War. He told a long story in which he was a cynical outsider celebrating his detachment from the grueling reality of war. His narrative included incidents of partying and clowning and resistence to Army regulations. he had set the tone of the conversations that made me very uncomfortable, and so I found occasion contribute my story of being a ten year at the time that my brother Grant and my older cousin Elmer were conscripted. My brother was not finished High School, but he was a serious soldier and soon was a Corporal training other fresh recruits. When his group were shipped overseas, he was kept back to train the next batch of recruits, fresh from the farms of Western Canada. His older cousin, Elmer, a few years older, had joined the Airforce. He became a pilot and was sent early to active duty in England to fly Lancaster bombers. I recalled the announcement of his plane being shot down over the Netherlands, but nothing else was known. I told our little group that another cousin was called by the Church to fill a Mission following the end of the war. to help with restarting the Church work in Denmark. Following his two year mission, he took a trip into the Netherlands to see if he could find anything about his cousin Elmer. He found the place where he had gone down and the little town where he had been seen as he came down.
ReplyDeleteThe citizens of the town ran to the crash site. They dragged the dead body out of the plane. They had seen what he had done to avoid the town and had erected a monument to his memory, though they didn't know what his name was. Elder Kenneth Anderson returned home to the family and shared the story he had uncovered.
To finish this story on the CareWest event, the staff leader of the discussion came to me and said she was very moved by the story and thanked me for redirecting the conversation to the real purpose of Remenbrance Day. She has become a very good friend.