Well, Remembrance Day is over for another year. In the Legion, it is the most important day of the year. It is the day that we put on public display what we do year round, honour our fallen veterans. The day dawned rather wet but by the time the parade moved off at 10:45am it had settled for overcast and cool.
I have a long standing practice of not wearing a topcoat over my uniform blazer so the trick to warmth on a day like yesterday is dressing in layers under the shirt. I have a white turtleneck that is worn only on days like that followed by a white t-shirt and then my shirt. Had it been raining which has happened on some Remembrance Days, a clear plastic bag would have been cut to match under my blazer in an effort to keep the layers dry. November in Canada, you expect just about any weather, including snow. Read the rest of this entry »
In my role as Legion President I was asked to be the guest speaker at the Colborne Rotary Club meeting tonight. Here are my remarks:
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Silent the dead.
Remembering, we stand silent as they,
for words cannot esteem causes of war,
the love of native land,
all that they were,
and all they might have been.
Tomorrow, at day break, the last of 68,000 names will flash up on public buildings in London, England and six cities across Canada. They started their silent vigil a week ago, each name showing for 8 seconds from sundown to sunup. They are the names of the Canadians who gave their lives for Canada during World War 1.
As 11:00am approaches, Canadians will go to local cenotaphs as either participants or observers, others will prepare to shut down equipment, others will watch the clock as they prepare to observe a two minute wave of silence across the country. Transit systems, factories, offices, schools will come to a halt in silent remembrance of the moment when the guns fell silent 90 years ago.
A silence in which we will reflect on the horrific cost of war. A silence in which we honour the service, the sacrifice and the selflessness of the thousands of Canadians who took up arms to defend what we as Canadians hold dear – our freedom. Read the rest of this entry »
