Neil
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Post by Neil on Nov 10, 2014 22:38:07 GMT -8
I was certain that we had a thread for this, but I can't locate it, so if I'm mistaken, I'm hoping the mods will just fold this into the thread I've missed.
It continues to impress me that Remembrance Day resonates with young people... that the connection with those who served this country seems to be relevant to people who will hopefully never know military service, unless they choose to. These days Canadian enlisted folks are perhaps as likely to lose their lives to maniacal zealots on home soil as they are overseas; the changing face of warfare, big and small.
We've always warned, 'lest we forget', but the number of young faces at ceremonies is a heartening indication that we never will.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Nov 10, 2014 22:42:43 GMT -8
I was certain that we had a thread for this, but I can't locate it, so if I'm mistaken, I'm hoping the mods will just fold this into the thread I've missed. Here it is. Thanks for your post on this. My wife and I are attending the Nanaimo cenotaph service tomorrow. It is a meaningful day on our calendar.
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Post by Mike C on Nov 11, 2014 10:27:44 GMT -8
Today, I will do my best to honour my late grandfather, a WWII fighter pilot who came home, and my great-grandfather, a WWI fighter pilot who, sadly, did not. BC Transit does not operate in Prince George on bank holidays, so I won't be able to make it downtown to observe the cenotaph service. Instead, I will hold my own personal moment of silence either in my dorm, or at one of the gardens on campus.
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Post by WettCoast on Nov 11, 2014 15:38:31 GMT -8
On Remembrance Day, more than anything else, I think of my mother, Muriel, still alive & kicking slowly at 93 years, in Victoria. I think about her brother, named Harold Charles Seedhouse, a pilot officer in the RCAF, whose plane was shot down in April of 1944, while on a bombing raid from Britain to Germany. My Mom's brother, Harold, perished. He was just 20 years old. There is a marker for him in Belgium which I must go and see before its too late. When this happened my mother was just married, and already expecting her first child, born in October, later that year. My mother named him 'Harold' to honour her beloved brother. A few years later a second baby boy, 'David', was born into the family, followed by six more boys, one of whom in 1954 they would name James (me). Later there were two girls adopted into the family. I also think about Harold, my Mom's first born son & my eldest brother, who was lost at age 19 in a car accident on the Remembrance Day weekend of 1963. My Mother was heart broken. Harold was actually the third 'Harold' in the family. The second was, of course, the Uncle I never met, my Mother's brother, lost in the conflict that was WW II. Now Harold Charles Seedhouse was named by my Mom's Mum, Mary Seedhouse (nee Compton, my grandmother) after her two brothers Harold & Charles Compton, who perished in the trenches during the Great War. Just so you know, not I, nor any of my brothers or sisters, have tempted fate by naming a child 'Harold'. We have had our times of great sadness in our generation, as happens in all families, from time to time.
A few photos from today's Remembrance Service at the cenotaph here in Kitimat... A good turn out in a small town. We are very happy to see the sun even if it comes with a chilling north wind. It has been very wett of late. Old timers who have served, and those who serve today...
Wreaths laid at the Cenotaph in Remembrance All photos © WCK-JST by Wett Coast, on Flickr
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Post by Low Light Mike on Nov 11, 2014 17:22:26 GMT -8
On Remembrance Day, more than anything else, I think of my mother, Muriel, still alive & kicking slowly at 93 years, in Victoria. I think about her brother, named Harold Charles Seedhouse, a pilot officer in the RCAF, whose plane was shot down in April of 1944, while on a bombing raid from Britain to Germany. My Mom's brother, Harold, perished. He was just 20 years old. There is a marker for him in Belgium which I must go and see before its too late. Thanks for your post. Question on cemeteries: - the link for Harold Charles Seedhouse lists Royal Oak cemetery in Victoria for burial. How common (or rare?) was it for a WWII killed-in-action airman's remains to be interred in Canada?
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Post by Low Light Mike on Nov 11, 2014 18:05:28 GMT -8
I've got a story to share about the kindness shown by the Royal Canadian Legion, to my parents:
In the 3.5 years that my father was in complex-care at a seniors care home, the Royal Canadian Legion visited the home once per week, every week. They had a list of veterans, and they gave each veteran a kit-kat chocolate bar, every week. Simple and consistent kindness, expressed by a small token of sweetness.
The legion members who do this kind deed must have asked if any new residents were veterans. The seniors care home staff must have had my father listed as a veteran, after having asked about it. I suspect it was a standard question for the seniors care home, in order to get to know their new residents better, so that they can better interact with the residents. Hence the connection.
It didn't matter to the care home, or to the legion, how/where/who/when my father served in wartime. They just wanted to show compassion and respect to those where were impacted by service during war.
My mother is in an assisted-living apartment in the same seniors facility. Following my father's passing, and still continuing, the legion has now been leaving the honorary kit-kat chocolate bar with my mother. It appears on her doorstep every Tuesday. The same concept as a widow's survivor pension, but with an extra measure of kindness.
The volunteers with the Royal Canadian Legion show genuine care to people in our community, and all across Canada.
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My father and his family were ethnic Germans living in Western Poland in a farming village. In September 1939, when my father was 11 years old, WWII started in his "backyard." During my father's tween & teen years, they lived under Nazi German occupation, and my father was forced to join a boy's club (Hitler Youth). In spring 1945, my father was conscripted into the German army as a 17 year old, to help dig anti-tank ditches. His boy-soldier unit was thankfully captured by the British in western Germany near the end of the war. He came to Kanada as a war-refugee in 1949, aged 21.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2014 19:16:54 GMT -8
I attended the Remembrance Day ceremony here in Lower Lonsdale this morning. For the past six years, I've been attending these in the town I live in. I consider it to be one's duty to pay our respects to those who have ensured that our country continues to be free & democratic.
My great-grandfather escaped the hands of Military Recruiters in 1944, when then Prime Minister Mackenzie King passed a law moving conscription forward. Very few men who had been conscripted ended up in Europe, as it was 1944, and the War was coming to a close. The Military came to his door twice in the Summer of 1944, however, many people in my great grandfathers town and province did not feel part of that war, and therefore were opposed to conscription. My great grand-father, being an auto mechanic, had a more powerful vehicle than the Military's Representatives. He was also a hunter and knew the region like the back of his hand, so was able to camp in the woods for a few days, until the message came that they were gone.
My great-uncle served for Canada in the Second World War, and passed away on November 11th, while serving during WWII.
As an aside, I also enjoyed listening to the playing of The Last Post this year - something I had the honour to do in front of my High School last year. For some reason, it always sends chills up my back listening to it... Last Post is quite a powerful piece.
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Post by northwesterner on Nov 11, 2014 20:00:44 GMT -8
This thread is an interesting read.
Most of the regular poster Canadians on this board have noted (at some point in the thread's history) that it is an annual tradition to go to the local Remembrance Day ceremony.
Down south, we call it Veteran's Day. I've never been to a Veteran's Day ceremony, or even really heard of one. I did a quick google tonight for events in Seattle; there are just a couple of small ceremony's at local cemeteries.
Interesting contrast... By the way, I had to google "cenotaph." Never seen it before.
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Post by WettCoast on Nov 11, 2014 20:35:12 GMT -8
On Remembrance Day, more than anything else, I think of my mother, Muriel, still alive & kicking slowly at 93 years, in Victoria. I think about her brother, named Harold Charles Seedhouse, a pilot officer in the RCAF, whose plane was shot down in April of 1944, while on a bombing raid from Britain to Germany. My Mom's brother, Harold, perished. He was just 20 years old. There is a marker for him in Belgium which I must go and see before its too late. Thanks for your post. Question on cemeteries: - the link for Harold Charles Seedhouse lists Royal Oak cemetery in Victoria for burial. How common (or rare?) was it for a WWII killed-in-action airman's remains to be interred in Canada? That information is incorrect. Officially he is buried at the Heverlee Cemetery in Belgium. I am uncertain about whether the grave stone there actually marks his remains, or is simply a 'marker'. I believe that the plane he was in was actually shot down over Germany. Some on the plane including my uncle were listed as KIA (killed in action), while others survived and were taken as PoW's. Belgium, however, was occupied by Nazi Germonu at the time, so the plane may have actually been shot down in Belgium. I really should find out what actually happened.
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Post by Starsteward on Nov 12, 2014 13:08:46 GMT -8
Thanks to all of our members who have taken the time to share some very personal information about their families' involvement in their service to Canada during WWII.
My late grandfather served in WWI and was a victim of one of the first German gas attacks, for which our troops were poorly equipped to survive. Suffering major lung damage, he was returned home to Maple Ridge and spent but a short time fighting various bronchial infections to ultimately pass away when my father was only 17 years old. My grandmother at the time had six children, my father being the eldest which meant that he had to quit school and begin supporting his mother and siblings as back in the day there was no pensions or welfare programs to fall back on. The remnants of war had an everlasting effect on my father's side of the family and what the future may have held for my father and his siblings will always remain speculative at best.
My mother's brother spent 4 years in Europe during WWII and was fortunate enough to survive and return to the family farm in Saskatchewan. My mother being the eldest sibling of a family of five children also had to begin work at an early age to help support the family.
From my best recollection neither my grandfather nor my uncle spoke much of their service experiences but what little information I was able to pry out of my uncle was 'horrific-light'as it were, but are images I see whenever I look into the eyes of veterans whilst they stand or sit at Remembrance Day services. I often find myself silently asking, "what have those eyes seen?, and I'm forever grateful that hopefully my eyes will never have to see such horrific sights. It is in this hope that each year on Remembrance Day, I give thanks to the men and women who not only paid the supreme sacrifice but who live on enduring the physical and emotional scars with which they live on a daily basis.
Until recently, I worried that our young people were losing touch with the relevance of Remembrance Day, however, as Neil pointed out, there appears to be a new awakening of the importance of 'Remembrance' among our younger folks, no doubt for a number of reasons and hopefully this trend will continue to grow.
The Canadian Armed Forces have been involved in arenas of Global conflict, peacekeeping and humanitarian duties for which those of us who have never had to participate should be truly thankful. We thank the families of those who served and continue to serve around the world as they also 'serve' at immense human cost.
Reading Mike's post of the work done by the Royal Canadian Legion volunteers who attended at his father's care home and continue to do so at his mother's facility, giving a wee bit of weekly care and compassion brought tears to my eyes.
"Lest We Forget" seems an inadequate tribute to those who gave, to those who serve and to those who will serve in the future.
Remembrance Day Ceremonies aside, there are many opportunities throughout the year when we can remind ourselves of our solemn commitment to 'Remember'. The most frequent opportunity to renew that commitment comes whenever we attend an event which opens with the singing of our National Anthem. The words:"we stand on guard for thee", must underscore our commitment to 'Never Forget'! God Bless Canada and the Red Maple Leaf that represents us.
My thanks again to our members who have shared their insightful and heartwarming stories, in our forum where we banter about trivial matters by comparison.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Nov 11, 2018 20:43:21 GMT -8
I was on the Queen of Alberni this morning at the Remembrance hour. The captain announced a two minute pause in the ship's operations, with a slowing of speed. I was finishing a brunch, and it did seem that everyone paused, stopped eating, and sat quietly as the ship drifted.
Lest we forget, and I hope that Canadians won't, no matter how far we get away from those years when people made the ultimate sacrifice for the lives we enjoy now.
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Post by Brandon S on Dec 2, 2018 16:47:45 GMT -8
I was on the Queen of Alberni this morning at the Remembrance hour. The captain announced a two minute pause in the ship's operations, with a slowing of speed. I was finishing a brunch, and it did seem that everyone paused, stopped eating, and sat quietly as the ship drifted. Lest we forget, and I hope that Canadians won't, no matter how far we get away from those years when people made the ultimate sacrifice for the lives we enjoy now. I was on the Queen of Cumberland going through Active Pass. Captain made a nice announcement, followed by moment of silence. We slowed right down as well.
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paulvanb
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Post by paulvanb on Dec 2, 2018 23:21:25 GMT -8
I have visited the cemeteries of Beny-sur-mer, France, Casino in Italy, and Agira in Sicily. All are beautifully, quiet places in serene locations. I always stop to pray for those who are unknown and buried there. For all of the Call of Duty fans or other young people I would recommend a visit to Dachau or any other concentration camp to really see what our boys fought for. I visited Dachau in 2015. It really drove the message home for me.
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Ignacio
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Post by Ignacio on Dec 6, 2018 8:49:13 GMT -8
As a south-of-the-49 person I certainly have known it as Veterans day my whole life, but in 2017 it became important to me as Remembrance Day as I escorted my mother to London to honor her passed husband. He was a classic California American surfer boy that turned 18 in 1940 and volunteered for service, but was declined by the U.S. military due to asthma.
Undeterred he found opportunity for war service via the American Field Service and hopped a ship to India as an ambulance driver. Once there he was quickly picked up by the British and ended up serving with the Fourteenth Army under General Slim and was in Kohima during the storied battle. (Americans have no clue and rarely know about the Burma-India-China theater...let alone this important Allied victory) He was awarded the Burma Star and it featured in his funeral a few years ago and I always enjoyed the epitaph featured prominently on newsletters he'd receive through the year:
"When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today"
Well, as an American in London, standing a hundred yards from the Queen behind impeccably dressed soldiers at attention wearing proper Canadian bear hats--I learned a bit about the service, honor, and pageantry the British commonwealth added to the freedoms of this world.
And this year I wore a crocheted poppy I picked up at the Winston Churchill museum to my local Veterans Day affair in my hometown and shared its significance with a few unfamiliar with the symbol.
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