# A special Remembrance Day



## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of WWI. Millions died on the battlefields of France and many more civilians
as well in Belgium and France. Canada lost 67,000, and 250,000 were wounded in the trench warfare with chemical attacks
that lasted from August 5, 1914 to November 11, 1918, inspiring the famous poem "IN FLANDERS FIELDS" by John McRae in 1915. 
It was called the Great War and a war to end all wars...but as history recalls, it was not to be the end of all wars.



> *More than 9 million combatants and 7 million civilians died as a result of the war*, a casualty rate exacerbated by the belligerents' technological and industrial sophistication, and tactical stalemate. It was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, paving the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved.[5


Today at Canada's National War Memorial, HRH Princess Anne and GG David Johnston will unveil some new dedication plaques on the war memorial. 

This year, although it was the beginning of WWI, has a special significance with the soldier Cpl Nathan Cirillo who was cut down in cold blood, and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, who was run down by ...what we now believe were extremist inspired confused two men, that grew up within our society.... only to turn against it in the very end.

And today we reflect on mostly the First world war Canada participated in, then came WWII, the Korean, Afghanistan and now...again.

I'm sure that in the years ahead, each significant milestone year will probably mark the 100th
anniversary of a great conflagration , where Canada participated in and where countless people lost their lives..2018..2039...2045 and so on. 


Gord Lightfoot wrote a song about war many years ago...he was a minstrel who sang about relationships..but this one song must have been inspired from a Remembrance day service he may have remembered in his life. 



> *PROTOCOL*
> Who are these ones who would lead us now
> To the sound of a thousand guns
> Storm the gates of hell itself
> ...



It is sad to see that after 100 years of death and destruction from wars that we engaged in, yet another conflict and the words of the poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow during the American Civil war.." I heard the bells" still rings... true today.




> I thought how, as the day had come,
> The belfries of all Christendom
> Had rolled along the unbroken song
> Of peace on earth, good will to men.
> ...


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## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

Carverman, 
Thanks for this. Nicely done.


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## Nemo2 (Mar 1, 2012)

In just under an hour we'll stroll over to Memorial Park for the ceremonies.......only a few hundred yards from our place...sunny day, should be a good turnout.


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## Islenska (May 4, 2011)

An ex WW2 navy man would always say to us "Thanks for coming out", obviously it was special for him. In our little town we have a good turnout and it makes you pause when realizing how these young people from years ago headed off and some did not return.

So put away the spreadsheets, grab a poppy and show your support on this special day!


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

Awhile ago, I took my 5 year old grandson to visit my dad's name plaque at the cemetary.

While we were there.......he pointed out the white crosses......and I tried to explain it simply to him. He reached out and touched the stone. I couldn't help but think the soldier resting there would have smiled.

Yesterday, he noticed a poppy in the tray between the seats. He asked what it was and I told him it was to remember the soldiers who died fighting for me and him. In his mind.........the soldiers died fighting the "evil Chaos" (a character from the Skylanders game)

Today, we will go together after his school and visit dad again...........and we will bring the poppy to lay on a white cross.

My grandfather volunteered for the Great War at 15 years of age. I can't even imagine the horrors he must have experienced.

He was one of the lucky ones, but it affected him deeply. Even a mention of the war decades later..........brought tears immediately to his eyes.

Lest "we" forget.....................because they never did.

Today we will also have a celebration of life, for today our grandson has a birthday.......he is 6 years old today.


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## Nemo2 (Mar 1, 2012)

Perhaps one of the biggest turnouts ever in Belleville.....certainly by far the biggest since we've been here.

There's usually a police presence......but today, for the first time in our limited experience, they were patrolling through the crowd.


(Happy Birthday to your grandson, Sags.)


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

I'm in another timezone so I streamed the service in Ottawa live on CBC. I've been there before and many of the biggest ones in Europe and it was touching to see such a huge turnout and ceremony this year. One of the commentators compared the crowd to the liberation day in Wageningen or Apeldoorn and I was thinking the same.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

Thanks Nemo.........

The ceremony in Ottawa was truly moving............

I was struck by the comment the memorial was dedicated to those who had given their lives on foreign battlefields, but today and forever more also represents lives that were given on Canadian soil.

Best wishes to all the veterans and military folks out there..............stay safe.


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## Nemo2 (Mar 1, 2012)

sags said:


> today and forever more also represents lives that were given on Canadian soil.


That was stated here in Belleville also.


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## martin15 (Feb 18, 2014)

Nemo2 said:


> Perhaps one of the biggest turnouts ever in Belleville.....



Looks like very high turnout all over the country, very nice to see.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

sags said:


> Awhile ago, I took my 5 year old grandson to visit my dad's name plaque at the cemetary.
> 
> While we were there.......he pointed out the white crosses......and I tried to explain it simply to him. He reached out and touched the stone. I couldn't help but think the soldier resting there would have smiled.
> 
> ...


I'm sure your grandson will remember this just as much as you remember. 

I used to participate in the Remembrance Day services in Ottawa in the '60s as a reservist (30th Field Artillery)..and it was very moving ceremony for me then, marching in the parades around the National War memorial.

Although I can't do this anymore, I watched it on CBC, and in spirit felt it especially moving this year, because of the re-dedication of the War Memorial and the events of what happened just 3 weeks ago. 

There were (apparently 100,000 people there in 1939, when the memorial was unveiled ad dedicated by George VI. I'm sure there were probably at least 50,000 or more from the TV camera panorama. It was very moving to hear the band and the children's choir singing the old familiar hymns. 

I'm sure that the Canadian memorial at Vimy Ridge and the Allied military graveyards, for those lucky enough to travel to France, must be very humbling..Lest We Forget. 

Watched the movie Passchendaele/Ypres by Paul Gross on Sunday on Global. Of one of our many important battles in 
the Ypres salient, and there were so many battles fought there..with the Canadian Corps finally winning what was left of the town (more like a muddy crater filled swamp=no mans land), then the Germans recaptured the town again in the following years offensive.
In the end..it was a wholesale carnage of somewhere between 200K and 448K for the Allies and 217K -400K the Germans thatwere killed or obliterated in the muddy craters over the 3 months of the battles that raged there..unbelievable! Many were never found. 

I heard that there was one remaining WWI Veteran (woman) who died last year, If that is true, she was over 110 years old and signed up as a teenager in 1918. The last known male veteran of WWI died in 2011. 
This is what he had to say:


> "He always said that the old men make the decisions that send the young men into war," his son Adrian recalled. "He used to say, if it was the other way around, and the old … were off fighting, then there would never be any wars."


I looked at the young faces of Canada and wondered if they and your Grandson will be lucky enough to experience a lasting peace in this seriously troubled world in their lifetimes.


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

Everywhere today, huge crowds showed admiration, gratitude and respect; many could not even control their heartfelt emotions. Such poignant ceremonies.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

Toronto.gal said:


> Everywhere today, huge crowds showed admiration, gratitude and respect; many could not even control their heartfelt emotions. Such poignant ceremonies.


Many are asking, why not make it a national holiday..after all the federal gov't and the banks get it off...but unfair as it may
seem to the rest of us...if they made it a national holiday, I think it would lose it's special meaning over time..unlike the
other holidays, this day is not about personal enjoyment of a holiday..but serious thought as to why we observe it...
otherwise it would eventually just become another day to stay home, or go shopping. 

As the veterans pass on, there will be fewer and fewer of them to remind us..just like the WWI veterans who used to be
attending these ceremonies in the 60s when I was participating as a teenager. That gave me a lot of respect for those
that served and were lucky enough to come back. As Canada's multicultural society grows, and fewer veterans are still
around, turning it into a day off work or school would just defeat the meaning.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

Upon further reflection, I agree with you Carverman.........I think having another holiday would probably make it a meaningless day.

I think the purpose of the day is to deliberately take the time out of a normal day to remember. 

As everyone sat around the table today......they talked about the ceremonies in their town.

That is what they remembered out of their busy day, and that is the way it should be.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

I don't think there is any more poignant poem that "In Flanders Fields", written by Colonel John McCrae in the trenches in France.

My grandfather always said he knew Colonel McCrae and was in the trenches with him when he was writing the poem. I don't know if it is true, because the history shows that Colonel McCrae took it upon himself to write many letters home to parents of fallen soldiers, but they were there at the same time period and I believe he was in the same trenches while Colonel McCrae was writing.

Colonel McCrae described the war as thus..........

_The general impression in my mind is of a nightmare. We have been in the most bitter of fights. For seventeen days and seventeen nights none of us have had our clothes off, nor our boots even, except occasionally. In all that time while I was awake, gunfire and rifle fire never ceased for sixty seconds ..... And behind it all was the constant background of the sights of the dead, the wounded, the maimed, and a terrible anxiety lest the line should give way. (Prescott. In Flanders Fields: The Story of John McCrae, p. 98)_

Colonel John McCrae has an interesting biography.

http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/first-world-war/mccrae


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## martin15 (Feb 18, 2014)

sags said:


> Colonel John McCrae has an interesting biography.
> 
> http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/first-world-war/mccrae


Nice read.
I had the pleasure of visiting the Colonel's grave a few years ago.
Nice place, with a nice view of the surrounding countryside.


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

carverman said:


> Many are asking, why not make it a national holiday..after all the federal gov't and the banks get it off...but unfair as it may
> seem to the rest of us...if they made it a national holiday, I think it would lose it's special meaning over time..unlike the
> other holidays, *this day is not about personal enjoyment of a holiday..but serious thought as to why we observe it..otherwise it would eventually just become another day to stay home, or go shopping.*
> 
> ...


Couldn't agree more.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

martin15 said:


> Nice read.
> I had the pleasure of visiting the Colonel's grave a few years ago.
> Nice place, with a nice view of the surrounding countryside.


here is a link to the picture of his grave in France. Unlike today, the bodies were not repatriated due to vast numbers of dead and missing.
http://www.webmatters.net/belgium/ww1_mccrae.htm


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

Toronto.gal said:


> Couldn't agree more.


 ... +1 ... with screaming kids in a pizzeria ... in New York. I think the half-a-day suggestion by Carverman would be fairer and work better.


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## Cal (Jun 17, 2009)

Great weather for those attending yesterday.


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## martin15 (Feb 18, 2014)

carverman said:


> here is a link to the picture of his grave in France. Unlike today, the bodies were not repatriated due to vast numbers of dead and missing.
> http://www.webmatters.net/belgium/ww1_mccrae.htm




Here is my picture.

In this cemetery, the gravestones are placed on the ground, due to the sandy soil in the area.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Here is the poser who was interviewed by CBC in the crowd on November 11, getting married with his beret on indoors, a goatee, sash under the belt, and an aide-de-camp aiguillette that is never worn by a sergeant. I feel bad for his family. His beard, beret, crooked collar, pins and medals were a dead giveaway on national TV. Posing as an airborne pathfinder is one thing, but the medals make it criminal.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

m3s said:


> Here is the poser who was interviewed by CBC in the crowd on November 11, getting married with his beret on indoors, a goatee, sash under the belt, and an aide-de-camp aiguillette that is never worn by a sergeant. I feel bad for his family. His beard, beret, crooked collar, pins and medals were a dead giveaway on national TV. Posing as an airborne pathfinder is one thing, but the medals make it criminal.


 This is not the first time..but he got caught because of his interview on CBC at the war memorial.


> Franck Gervais, who was interviewed on CBC wearing a bogus uniform of a Royal Canadian Regiment sergeant during the Nov. 11 Remembrance Day service at the National War Memorial, works for an Ottawa construction company and lives in a modest home in Cantley, Que., about 40 minutes north of Ottawa.


Another imposter incident a few months back..
http://www.torontosun.com/2014/02/0...iform-after-years-of-pretending-to-be-officer

Ottawa Police are investigating the latest case. They found out he is a local construction worker. He got his 3 minutes of fame on CBC TV while interviewed at the War Memorial on Nov 11. Apparently the beret maybe from the RCR (Royal Canadian Regiment) and the medals, stripes, insignia, he could have got online?(see link),
and the uniform can be bought as well. Lots of uniforms were reported stolen and more than likely sold on the black
market or in military surplus stores.
http://theroyalcanadianregiment.ca/warehouse/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=25



> As well, Chinese companies are now producing medals, uniforms and various equipment that is difficult to discern from the real items. “Even the military ammunition boxes we buy are made in China,”


http://ottawacitizen.com/news/natio...uniforms-and-medals-easy-for-public-to-obtain


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