We Remember
On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day we remember. This national comemmoration is, for Canadians, Remembrance Day. That day set aside to recall the sacrifices made by so many, but in this instance and in particular the sad brave youth of the country who sailed off to foreign lands and marched through unknown territories to meet the youth of alien nations where they fought for their respective countries.It can be left for other countries to speak of their reasons for going to war. For Canada it was the ideal of fighting a war in defence of freedom, to repel the onslaught launched by offensive countries who saw fit for their own reasons to commit themselves to conquest. Canada fought against the unspeakable aggression, cruelty and intolerable bloodshed visited upon peaceful nations.
On this day, in Ottawa, twenty-five thousand people gathered in silence, under heavily overcast skies and an ongoing rain to witness the annual event of remembrance. This quiet crowd of men, women and children, the young and the old, assembled under grey clouds in a collective of determination to recall the past to which this country owes so much. Some among the crowd wore red elements of their attire, the colour that now honours a present regard for the safety of Canadian troops in Afghanistan.
The physical landscape in which this crowd gathered could not be more sombre, yet serenely beautiful. The National Memorial stands large and proud, a monumentally evocative sculpture honouring those who fought and fell in battles during the Great War, World War II, and the Korean War in implicit recognition of all wars of just defence Canada has been involved in. This is a landscape of bright green flora in a country of vast forests. It is also a landscape of hard grey native stone; Parliament buildings in the background.
A military guard stands on duty at the Cenotaph; red-coated members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police stand at attention as dignitaries assemble, awaiting the arrival of the Prime Minister of Canada, the Governor-General of Canada. The Ottawa Children's choir is grouped alongside the monument, clad in bright red, a clarifying reflection of the bright red poppy, that perennial symbol worn by those present, of Remembrance Day.
Canada has three remaining World War I veterans with an average age of 106.
The veterans of World War II in their thousands yet have an average age of 83.
Veterans of the Korean conflict average 76 years of age.
Among the assembled are worn, wrinkled elderly men and women, some still able to wear their old uniforms. Among those there are many displaying medals, military decorations. The faces are tired with memory. Some uplifted with pride in memory of the past. They represent this nation's oldest living generation. Many will not see another day of remembrance. They appear mindful of the presence of their war-time peers.
"Age shall not weary them"
"We will remember them"
"We will remember them"
The children's choir sings throughout various aspects of the ceremony. When they sing the national anthem everyone is invited to join the lyrical song of the patriot. The children's high, sweet voices sweep over the assemby, reach through the grey and the rain to touch our hearts.
There is the prolonged punctuation of the artillery shells fired in the 21-gun salute to the occasion. The military chaplain rises to invoke memory and thankfulness. Two vintage WWII airplanes fly past. The wreath-laying portion of the ceremony commences.
The skies weep.
posted by Pieface @ Saturday, November 11, 2006
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