Canadians say Remembrance Day important, don’t show it

By macleans.ca - Friday, November 11, 2011 at 10:29 AM - 3 Comments

Only just over a third of Canadians take part in Veterans’ Week, for example by participating in a local Remembrance Day ceremony, even though a majority says it’s important to honor veterans, the Ottawa Citizen reports. “While two-thirds of respondents … indicate that they make an effort to demonstrate their appreciation to Veterans, reported participation in Veterans’ Week activities is much lower,” reads a summary statement of the survey conducted by Ipsos-Reid for the federal government.

The Ottawa Citizen

‘This solemn day of reflection’

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, November 11, 2011 at 10:15 AM - 0 Comments

Liberal leader Bob Rae’s statement on the occasion of Remembrance Day.

Today we honour those Canadian veterans who have laid down their lives as a matter of duty and we honour those who returned home wearing the scars of conflict, both visible and unseen.

‘Remembering is not enough’

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, November 11, 2011 at 9:45 AM - 0 Comments

The leader of the official opposition’s statement on Remembrance Day.

Today, tomorrow and all year long, we have a duty to salute the fallen by standing up for the living—through proper home care, fair pensions without clawbacks and support that heals the terrible wounds of war.

So let us ensure that every veteran is taken care of—in service and in retirement. Let us promote the values of peace and justice, for which our soldiers have given so much. And let us continue the fight to make our country, and our world, a better place for future generations.

‘Their duty to remember’

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, November 11, 2011 at 9:00 AM - 0 Comments

The Governor General’s message on the occasion of Remembrance Day.

The terrible price that they paid during the conflicts that shaped our era reflects the sad reality of times of war, but it also speaks to the tremendous courage and unwavering determination needed to successfully complete their missions. We will never forget the men and women who, in spite of the danger and perils, gave their all to protect the ideals of justice and freedom. They deserve our gratitude and utmost respect.

‘Lest we forget’

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, November 11, 2011 at 8:30 AM - 3 Comments

The Prime Minister’s statement on the occasion of Remembrance Day.

The values our veterans held dear decades ago are still very much alive today in those who continue to serve our great country, be it at home or abroad, through peace support or combat missions.

The unparalleled spirit, skills and devotion of the members of the Canadian Armed Forces are an example for us all, and our thoughts remain with members currently serving in Afghanistan.

Who gets to support the troops (II)

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, November 4, 2011 at 2:05 PM - 18 Comments

After the Bloc Quebecois and Elizabeth May were prevented on Wednesday from speaking on the occasion of Remembrance Day, opposition House leader Joe Comartin asked the House yesterday to allow them five minutes each to speak.

Unanimous consent was once again denied. Ms. May says it was Conservatives who objected.

Who gets to support the troops

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, November 3, 2011 at 1:30 PM - 19 Comments

After Question Period yesterday, the House proceeded to the traditional messages on the occasion of Remembrance Day (the House is due to be on break next week). Veteran Affairs Minister Steven Blaney spoke for the government, Peter Stoffer for the NDP and Sean Casey for the Liberals.

Louis Plamondon then rose to offer remarks on behalf of the Bloc Quebecois, but was denied the unanimous consent of the House he needed to do so as the member of a party that does not have the sufficient number of MPs to be recognized in the House as an official party. Bob Rae suggested it was the Conservatives who had objected. Conservative backbencher Stephen Woodworth stood to object to Mr. Rae’s version of events. Government whip Gordon O’Connor then stood to explain.

Mr. Speaker, the Standing Orders say, in response to a minister’s statement, that only members of recognized parties can make statements. The Bloc is not a recognized party.

Thus were the Bloc Quebecois and Elizabeth May prevented from offering remarks.

Lest we forget

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 11:05 AM - 1 Comment

Remembrance Day messages from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Defence Minister Peter MacKay, Michael Ignatieff, Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe.

The Memory Project – David Dickson, How tobacco saved a life

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 1 Comment

David Dickson at Courseulles-sur-Mer, FranceGerman newspaper article about David Dickson| Courtesy of The Memory Project

Click play to hear David Dickson’s complete audio story

David Dickson, of the North Nova Scotia Highlanders, recalls how a tin of tobacco may have saved his life in March 1945

My company, D Company, was given the task of following a dyke along the west side of Bienen, Germany, and getting into the town. Unfortunately, Bienen was very stoutly defended by a large number of machine guns and we suffered great casualties there. I suffered a wound while crossing the dyke, trying to get into the buildings of the town. I got a bullet through me that penetrated my right side and came out the middle of my back, and went through my lung, liver and kidneys. [The bullet] broke several ribs and went through my diaphragm.

My wife used to send me John Cotton pipe tobacco from England and I never could keep a tobacco pouch. I used to keep the tin of tobacco down inside my battledress blouse. I was pulled off the dyke, ultimately, by another artillery signals corporal, after one of my sergeants had been killed almost on top of me by a mortar shell. The corporal got my jacket off and the tin of tobacco fell out. He said, “My God, look.” He said the bullet went right through the tin of tobacco. The bullet missed my spine by only half an inch where it came out the back and made a big hole. I always felt that perhaps that tin of tobacco saved me from being incapacitated for the rest of my life. Or being dead for the rest of my life, I guess.

Remembrance Day special

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 1 Comment

Below is a sampling of testimonials by WWII veterans collected by The Memory Project. Some 1100 such interviews are available here. Canadian veterans interested in sharing their WWII stories should call 1-866-701-1867 or visit the thememoryproject.com

Aiming to save history How the Memory Project keeps alive the stories of Canada’s war veterans	Maurice White – On the front line Why Maurice White, an infantryman with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, will never forget the Christmas of 1943	Burton Harper – Battle of the Bulge Burton Harper was on loan to the British army when he was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge
Paul Dumaine – Love Between getting engaged and his marriage, Paul Dumaine survived on the beach in Dieppe	Elizabeth (Betty) Dimock – Treating the wounded Betty Dimock first saw service in 1942 treating the wounded in North Africa	Allan Smith – Survival Allan Smith, a bomb aimer, found himself drifting toward occupied France in 1944
Donald Stewart – Homecoming Donald Stewart, a naval gunner from Kelowna, B.C., on coming home after the war	Glenn Price – In battle In 1945, Glenn Price joined the Canadian Army’s Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment in the Netherlands	Bob Farquharson – Supplying the front Bob Farquharson, a Canadian Air Force pilot, contended with the Japanese military, monsoons, and heavy cumulonimbus clouds
David Dickson – How tobacco saved a life David Dickson recalls how a tin of tobacco may have saved his life

The Memory Project — Aiming to save history

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 1 Comment

Getty Images

The average age of a Canadian veteran who served in the Second World War is 87. So while more than 140,000 are still with us, the sad truth is that preserving their rich legacy is quite literally a race against time.

It’s one being led by the Historica-Dominion Institute. Since June 2009, its staff has gathered about 2,000 veteran testimonials—1,100 of the interviews are available at thememoryproject.com—and has digitized 8,000 wartime mementoes, including letters, photos and diaries. And now, just in time for Remembrance Day, comes We Were Freedom, a book featuring 65 of the most gripping war stories that have been collected, including tales of battle, bravery and loyalty. Some, including Allan Smith’s riveting story of life inside a German labour camp, and that of Betty Dimock, a nurse who tended to the wounded during the North Africa campaign.

These oral histories personalize the war and provide a first-hand account that would otherwise be lost. Many of the stories are dramatic and hair-raising. Others are charming, touching, even funny. All are compelling. And now, thanks to the site, unforgettable.

The Memory Project – Donald Stewart, Homecoming

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 0 Comments

Donald Stewart is pictured top 2nd from the left, On leave after VE day (1st from the left)| Courtesy of The Memory Project

Click play to hear Donald Stewart’s complete audio story

Donald Stewart, a naval gunner from Kelowna, B.C., on coming home.

Apparently, some fellow with the same name as mine, his ship was torpedoed, and so my parents were notified I was lost at sea. When I got home, I didn’t tell them I was coming, I caught the bus and went to Copper Mountain. My father, being the policeman there, had to meet the buses. The old man looked at me and said, ‘you’re dead.’ I said, ‘what the hell do you mean, I’m dead?’ He says, ‘we’ve had your memorial service.’ I said, ‘how is mom taking it?’ I went home. She grabbed a hold of me, I thought she was never going to let loose. I can still feel this today.

The Memory Project – Burton Edwin Harper, Battle of the Bulge

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 0 Comments

First annual reunion of CANLOAN officers. Lieutenant Burton Harper served with The East Lancashire Regiment. | Courtesy of The Memory Project

Click play to hear Burton Harper’s complete audio story

Burton Harper, a Canadian officer from Miramichi, N.B., was on loan to the British army when he was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge in January 1945.

We were to attack a little village of Grimbiémont [Belgium]. We attacked two of the houses. I had half my platoon on the houses on one side, half on the other and we went down house by house, being very careful not to throw grenades first because there were civilians in there. But we rousted them out right to the bottom. Near the bottom of the hill, there was an explosion on the road and an explosion inside my head at the same time. I found myself on my hands and knees, looking down at the snow and blood and teeth. I’d been hit in the face. You can’t stop for anyone in an attack when there’s artillery coming down because you’d lose everything. So my chaps pulled me to the door of a house and kept on going. In the house, there were some Belgian people. They grabbed me, took me down into the cellar and wrapped up my face [with] scarves. Another one of my chaps was hit in the leg and they got him down too.

After a couple of hours, I was still conscious, not too uncomfortable, but the other chap, he was in pain. I was afraid that the attack would have failed and there might be a counterattack and I didn’t want to be taken prisoner and I couldn’t leave him there either. So I made one of the worst decisions one could make. I couldn’t see, he couldn’t walk, they got me to the door of the house and with arms around the shoulders and waist, and with his eyes and my legs, I made a decision: we’re going to get out on the road and go up to where the stretcher bearers were or where the medical people were. So we got out on the road with our backs to the enemy, not very far away—they could hit us with a pistol. The war continued on both sides of the road and there wasn’t a shot fired at us. I considered that an honourable enemy. From there, it was back to the hospital. In the hospital, I met a nurse who took good care of me. We just celebrated our 63rd wedding anniversary in September [2009].

Gone, but not forgotten

By Julia Belluz - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 2 Comments

Ceremony for Justin Boyes in Kandahar | Sgt. Tim Jordan/Combat Camera

When Justin Boyes of Saskatoon announced to his mother Angela that he was going to join the Reserves, she did not approve. “This wasn’t in our plan of what we wanted for our kids,” she says. That was in January 2001, and after Sept. 11, Angela was begging her boy to quit. “Please, please, please,” she said to him. “Quit today. Go down there and quit today.”

But Justin was committed. As a teenager, he’d read about genocide and human rights violations in places like Rwanda and Afghanistan, and he wasn’t going to sit idle. So Angela resolved to support him. Still, she says, “I had a foreboding in my heart. I knew our lives were going to be affected by this.”

On Oct. 18, 2009, Justin arrived in Kandahar for his second tour of duty. The 26-year-old was leading a platoon focused on mentoring Afghan National Police officers. Ten days later, Angela’s phone rang. It was Justin’s younger brother, also a soldier, calling to say that Justin had been killed by an IED blast. “That can’t be,” she recalls saying to her son. “I had researched what would happen if the boys were hurt or killed—what the process would be—and I read that it would always involve someone coming to the door.” Within minutes, her doorbell rang.

Continue…

The Memory Project – Elizabeth (Betty) Dimock, Treating the wounded

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 0 Comments

Betty Dimock in Nursing Sister dress uniform | Courtesy of The Memory Project

Click play to hear Betty Dimock’s complete audio story

On loan from the Canadian Army to the South African military for a year, Betty Dimock first saw service in 1942 treating the wounded in North Africa. The nurse from Saint John, N.B., later joined the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps and worked at a hospital in England.

We had no antibiotics. And we had very few dressings. We had to wash out the dirty, old, soiled, infected dressings and hang them on the line in the sun. Native boys fanned flies off the wounds in the daytime to try to prevent the maggots. And we had unfamiliar medication and treatment. One unforgettable case, a young English lad from the North African campaign with numerous injuries, arrived in a complete body cast. Removal of the cast exposed unexpectedly severe shoulder injuries. The area was filled with a foul-smelling purulent substance, crawling with maggots. This patient begged me to get someone else to perform the procedure. He was aware of what I would find. I needed a soup ladle to remove the pus and maggots. For a young nurse, it was a little bit rough.

When we first went to England, it was the first time we’d been associated with antibiotics—penicillin. It wasn’t too well-purified. Some of the needles were not too sharp when we had to shoot them into the boys. They just screamed, it was terrible. And they’d hide.

The Memory Project – Allan Smith, Stories of survival WWII

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 1 Comment

Telegram to Allan Smith's Father, Allan Smith after his arrival at Stalag Luft III | Courtesy of The Memory Project

Click play to hear Allan Smiths’ complete audio story

Forced to bail out after his aircraft was “shot up quite badly,” Allan Smith, a bomb aimer with the Royal Canadian Air Force, found himself drifting toward occupied France in 1944.

I hit the ground very gently and hid my chute under some underbrush and got rid of my sidearm, a Smith & Wesson pistol. I took off into the unknown. I knew I was in the neighbourhood of Chartres. During the second day of wandering around, I made contact with the French resistance. The resistance hid me out in the small village of Berchères-la-Maingot, and I stayed with a French family.

I spent my nights in a cupboard, along with a huge spider. After almost two weeks with the French family—their name was LeGrande—it was starting to heat up in the area and people were coming to their door and inquiring if a British officer was staying with them. So they decided I’d better move and made arrangements that I would go to Spain, over the Pyrenees [mountains].

Continue…

The Memory Project – Glenn Price, In battle

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 2 Comments

Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment's Pin (left), Glenn Price's Medals | Courtesy of The Memory Project

Click play to hear Glenn Price’s complete audio story

In 1945, Glenn Price, from Middleville, Ont., joined the Canadian Army’s Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment in the Netherlands.

Our responsibility was to clear the Germans out of the Reichswald Forest. They were up in the trees with high-powered rifles. We went through with Jeeps and shot a flame-thrower up in the trees—they came down with their shirts on fire. It was pretty gruesome, but we took a lot of prisoners and had to disarm them. They had no ammunition . . . no gasoline. All the German officers had big Mercedes that they had stolen from wealthy Dutch people. So Canadian officers took those cars and ran them until the higher-ups said no more gas. I had one for three days [before] they took it away. They were only for officers.

The Memory Project – Bob Farquharson, Supplying the front

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 0 Comments

Bob Farquharson (left) and Corporal White, with a Japanese fighter | Courtesy of The Memory Project

Click play to hear Bob Farquharson’s complete audio story

Bob Farquharson, a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot born in Gleichen, Alta., dropped supplies into mountain-locked Burma, where he contended with the Japanese military, monsoons, and heavy cumulonimbus clouds.

There was no way to get supplies to the Allied army except to fly them to them. To make a drop, you have to fly around, the aircraft “low and slow,” maybe 300 feet above the ground. The kickers in the back piled the doorway with as many sacks of rice, or whatever we were dropping. And we dropped absolutely everything. I even dropped a crate of eggs packed in straw in a wicker basket, a big wicker basket. Now mind you, we always dropped eggs with a parachute. And the gasoline we dropped with a parachute. But rice was free-dropped, called “slack packed-double sacked.” It was packed slack, in a big hessian sack, and another sack over that, so that it didn’t burst immediately when it hit. In fact it bounced and skipped along quite a ways before it came to rest. We flew in everything: ammunition, clothing, rations. If somebody at the front lost his eyeglasses or false teeth, we flew in false teeth and eyeglasses.

The Memory Project – Paul Dumaine, Love during WWII

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 0 Comments

Paul and Joan Dumaine on their wedding day in England on July 4, 1945 | Courtesy of The Memory Project

Click play to hear Paul Dumaine’s complete audio story

Between getting engaged and his marriage in July 1945, Paul Dumaine, an infantryman with the Fusiliers Mont-Royal, survived serious wounds on the beach in Dieppe, and three years as a prisoner of war.

I met a young woman, Joan, who I became engaged to. We didn’t want to get married because the war was going strong and I could have been hurt or killed. So we said that we would wait. On Aug. 19, 1942, I arrived in Dieppe. My fiancée had no idea where I was. The battle was poorly organized. We landed in broad daylight. We got there and the beach was ablaze. The battle was full-on. Everyone was getting killed and falling down all over the place. It was terrible.

I collapsed after an hour. My head was injured. I couldn’t walk. It was like I was paralyzed. I was bleeding. I wanted to go wash myself off in the ocean. My legs were paralyzed from the shock. I had to drag myself on my elbows to the ocean. I washed my head. There was a great big boat called a tank landing craft; a boat that carried tanks. The doors opened and the tanks came out. One of them had foundered on the beach. We used it as a shelter to hide from the Germans.

After three years as a prisoner of war, I was released. I was ill. When I got to England, I stayed in hospital for a month. Joan was still in the army. The colonel called her to his office and said, “Joan, I have some good news.” She thought it was news from her parents. “Your fiancé is in England, at Aldershot. I know that you would like to see him.” She said, “Yes, yes, yes.” “I am giving you a pass. Get dressed in civilian clothes and go see him.” I was lying in my bed. They said to me, “Dumaine, you have a visitor.” She was there. It had been three years. When I saw her, she was so beautiful. I took her in my arms.

The Memory Project – Maurice White, On the front line

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 0 Comments

Maurice in England at the end of the war and after he transferred to the Canadian Provost Corps | Courtesy of The Memory Project

Click play to hear Maurice White’s complete audio story

Why Maurice White, an infantryman with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, will never forget the Christmas of 1943.

We went into Ortona under a creeping barrage on Dec. 20. We entered the southern part of the village at night. I think we spent the night in a soap factory. The next morning is when things really started to happen. It took eight days to take the town. We had to go from one room to the other—we’d blow a hole in the side of the house and go in through there because the streets were filled with rubble and machine guns.

Things were kind of slowing down a little bit [by Dec. 25]. I had got a position up in the east of a house, and I had knocked out two bricks, so I could observe the square behind the house. I was eating my Christmas dinner there. They brought up hot food for us, I don’t know how they got it up there, but they did. I think it was hot pork and gravy, mashed potatoes and a bottle of beer. I had taken it up to my lookout post. I shot a German on Christmas Day. At the time, it didn’t bother me. But ever since, you know, I thought, “Why did I do that?” It was Christmas. But you don’t have a choice, you either shoot somebody or they shoot you. When I shot him, he fell, and two German soldiers came out and grabbed him and I didn’t shoot back. I thank God that I didn’t because that would have been even worse to handle.

Joining the fight

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, November 23, 2009 at 11:40 AM - 9 Comments

As a woman in politics and a representative of royalty, there has always been a fascination with Michaëlle Jean’s attire. Often glamorous, the Governor General has hardly shied from the subject. It was with some justification then that Peter Mansbridge, anchoring the CBC’s coverage of Remembrance Day ceremonies in Ottawa, ventured a review of Jean’s appearance. “She seems to look pretty striking, and I think most Canadians have agreed with this position, in almost any outfit she chooses to wear,” he declared.

This, though, was different. Standing beside Prince Charles, Jean appeared in uniform. Mansbridge deemed her “resplendent.” Whatever the adjective, this was something more than fashion. This was Michaëlle Jean, commander-in-chief.

“Part of the role of the Governor General is to express as a person our feelings and sentiments,” says Peter Russell, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto. “And though we’re all divided about the war in Afghanistan, we’re not divided about our support for the men and women who are serving there. I think that’s why we had such a splendid turnout on Remembrance Day. Her being there in that uniform, I thought, was just terrific.”

The title of commander-in-chief was officially bestowed upon the governor general in 1947. And even though Jean appeared publicly in uniform earlier this year, this was perhaps the first time she fully inhabited the role before the nation. It was also, in keeping with a Governor General who has sought an emotional connection with Canadians, an intensely personal gesture—one arrived at after a military officer on leave at Rideau Hall encouraged her to consider wearing a uniform in tribute to those who serve. “It was the right suggestion at the right time,” says Marthe Blouin, Jean’s press secretary.

Jean subsequently debuted in a navy uniform during a ceremony in Halifax this June. “I would like to begin by confiding something to you,” she told members of the navy there. “I grew up under the yoke of a ruthless dictatorship, where the military uniform came to symbolize the brutal repression of the people, tyranny and massacres. Since becoming commander-in-chief of the Canadian Forces, I have had the opportunity to work alongside you—the women and men of this country who don the uniform. You can see how far I have come.”

The young Haitian girl is now the ceremonial head of state. And the Governor General now finds herself the commander-in-chief of a military embroiled in its deadliest mission in decades. When she addressed the country for the first time as Governor General four years ago this fall—before Canada had suffered the vast majority of its current casualties—Afghanistan was not explicitly invoked. That speech laid out the ideals she has most famously pursued since: community, engagement and equality, with a special emphasis on connecting with young people. She has defined herself by the motto “briser les solitudes,” breaking down solitudes. Days before reading the Throne Speech last fall, for instance, she convened a meeting of street youth in downtown Ottawa. In May, while touring Nunavut, she famously ate raw seal heart in solidarity with the Inuit. In Edmonton this summer, she sang and danced and spoke hopefully of hip hop.

A month after that, Jean made her second trip to Afghanistan and delivered an emotional salute to their mission. “Know that your fellow Canadians are very proud of what you are accomplishing here and are very much aware of the sacrifices you are making,” she said. Days later, with the death of another soldier, Jean deviated from her traditional statements of mourning to reflect at length. “The people of Afghanistan support progress, democracy, the reconstruction of peace, the rebuilding of their country, the respect of rights and freedoms, the equality of women, education and development,” she wrote, “and Canada, in turn, supports their efforts and initiatives to promote viable Afghan solutions to Afghan problems.”

A number of governors general donned a military uniform, but not since the Korean War in the 1950s has Canada been engaged as it is now, so rarely in recent years has the commander-in-chief been put in this position. Adrienne Clarkson, Jean’s immediate predecessor, twice spent New Year’s in Afghanistan—John Ralston Saul, her husband, rang in 2004 with a platoon, hiking up a muddy mountain near Kabul. In 2002, she was in Germany to meet the bodies of Canadians killed in an infamous friendly fire accident and was hailed as a hero when she left the job. “It is not by accident that as the Canadian Forces started looking past a decade of darkness, past a long period of insecurity and past a lingering feeling of shame, that you were our commander-in-chief,” said Gen. Rick Hiller, then chief of the defence staff.

Jean has been to Afghanistan twice and regularly attends repatriation ceremonies at the Canadian Forces base in Trenton, Ont., where the dead from Afghanistan arrive home. “Many of you have shared your pain with me,” she told recipients and family members this month at the inaugural presentation of Sacrifice Medals. “You also proudly told me about loved ones you lost in Afghanistan and know that Canadians share this pain and this pride with you. You are not alone.”

That is perhaps not among the solitudes she intended to break down, but the chasm between Canada and its understanding of itself at war may rival any other divide. And the closing of that gap may coincide with a new relevance for the governor general’s office. In Clarkson and Jean—both originally greeted as outsiders—the position has found new prominence, and not only because minority Parliaments have forced political consequence upon the viceregal.

“I think they were more conscious than other governors general in their job to help Canadians better understand their country,” Russell says. “That they have a real mission to help Canadians identify with Canada. And for a lot of people that needs a person, and these two people, partly because they didn’t have political backgrounds, they transcended politics. They were people of great warmth and charm.” Should the person appear in uniform it would seem only to lend greater meaning to both.

The veterans we forget

By Michael Petrou - Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 9:54 AM - 69 Comments

You who will emerge from under the flood

In which we have gone under

Remember

When you speak of our failings

The dark time too

Which you have escaped

- Bertolt Brecht, To Those Born Later

This morning, at cenotaphs and memorials across the country, Canadians will honour and remember those who fought and died in two world wars, in Korea, Afghanistan, and in several peacekeeping operations. This is as it should be. I’ll be there, too.

But there are those who few will remember today, though more should. On August 24, 1944, the first Allied tanks to enter Paris belonged to General LeClerc’s Free French. The names painted on the vehicles, however, were Spanish: Guadalajara, Ebro, Teruel. Continue…

In remembrance

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 8:00 AM - 34 Comments

On the 11th day of the 11th month, statements of remembrance from Stephen Harper, Michael Ignatieff, Jack Layton, Glen Pearson, Ujjal Dosanjh, James Bezan, Ruby Dhalla, Hedy Fry, Martha Hall Findlay, Peter Stoffer and Mark Holland.

'Let us keep the faith. Let us keep hope'

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, November 6, 2009 at 1:14 PM - 1 Comment

After Question Period yesterday, the House paused to mark Remembrance Day. Fine contributions from Greg Thompson, Rob Oliphant, Guy Andre and Peter Stoffer (shortly before he would be deemed a “faker” by the honourable senator on national television) can be read here.