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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Nov 11, 2003 12:45:38 GMT -5
The eleventh hour of the eleventh day has passed again and I would be remice if I didn't share this knowledge with you. For those who have lost loved ones in military conflict over the years, the Veteran's Affairs Canada web site has an excellent service by which you can locate those soldiers, sailors and airmen buried overseas. Here is the link. www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub.cfm?source=collections/virtualmemAll you need do is scroll down the page and fill in as much information as you can. It works well. I found my wifes Great-uncle resting in Dieppe Canadian Military Cemetary in France. He was killed during the big raid and I found him while touring the battlefields in Europe. However, I used the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Europe to find his last resting spot. And, all I had was a last name. Here is the CWGC web site. www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/search.aspxThis web site services any and all who fought and died within the hospices of British Empire. There is another site though. It's the WW II veterans web site. I was unable to access it as I require java script so I'm unable to verify if there is a service therein that our American friends can surf to find loved ones lost. If there are any American friends who know of such a site, please add it to this thread. Here is the web site. www2.vet.org Please wear a poppy today guys and gals. Our troops, airmen and sailors, both present and past, deserve it. Rick For the moderators; please leave this post up and I'll have it moved later tonight or tomorrow morning. Thanks. |
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Post by Habfaith on Nov 11, 2003 13:26:02 GMT -5
Excellent post Dis. Thank you.
I found my great uncle who was killed and buried in the Netherlands. I hope to visit his grave someday.
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Post by JacquesInFL on Nov 11, 2003 14:31:26 GMT -5
Dis, today is properly a day for reflection. The sheer weight of the sacrifice is staggering. My prayers also extend to the fine men in Afghanistan, Cyprus, Bosnia and perhaps other places we forget in our busy lives.
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Post by BCHab on Nov 11, 2003 15:05:48 GMT -5
Dis, I'm glad you created this thread. I had a conversation this morning with an young man who had no idea what Remembrance Day was all about. Over a couple of coffees, I told him about Ypres, the Somme, Passchendaele, Dieppe, Juno beach, Ortona, Cyprus and how I lost several of my friends when two Armed Forces Hercs crashed in Edmonton in 1984.
Most of them made the ultimate sacrifice in the springtime of their lives. Lest we forget indeed.
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Post by M. Beaux-Eaux on Nov 11, 2003 15:23:13 GMT -5
Thanks for posting the thread Dis.
As the son of East European immigrants who endured to find their way to these shores in the wake of unimaginable desolation, I must say that this is indeed a day of bitter Remembrance and grateful Thanksgiving.
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Post by franko on Nov 11, 2003 15:59:21 GMT -5
My grandfather fought (as a fifteen year old!) in WWI. My wife's grandfather was conscripted into the German army in WWII and spent most of his time in a French POW camp . . . and many years until his death living in guilt for his part in that war.
Shamefully, this generation not only has little knowledge of the price of freedom; it wants to forget. On the bulletin board of a local elementary school one teacher has a sing: "Lest We Remember". When questioned, she told me "no child should have to think about war--we should focus on peace". She is right, of course, but peace--freedom--came with great cost.
We do remember.
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Post by Ged on Nov 11, 2003 16:31:05 GMT -5
Last night on the tube I came across the tail end of a show. It was about a Canadian guy that was trying to take a picture of the headstone of every single Canadian soldier that has been KIA. The numbers were staggering. If I remember correctly, the end of his goal would see him with some 160,000 pictures, obtained from graveyards in 70+ countries. I believe his goal was to be completed in the next decade or so. All of these pictures will be posted on his website, so that family members who've never had a chance to travel the world to find their loved ones headstone, could access it via the pictures, and help to ease their pain. I couldn't think of a more noble cause.
Today, everything in life is trivial, but remembrance.
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Post by Montrealer on Nov 11, 2003 16:34:45 GMT -5
On the bulletin board of a local elementary school one teacher has a sing: "Lest We Remember". When questioned, she told me "no child should have to think about war--we should focus on peace". She is right, of course, but peace--freedom--came with great cost. We do remember. Everyone should remember - it is our duty as citizens and decent members of our society to ensure that the sacrifices made by so many people are never forgotten and are indeed honoured. Children should receive no exemption - war is horror, pure simple horror, and glazing over that fact is a grave disservice to the memory of those who lost their lives and to those young ones that may be asked to do so again. I personally had a Grandfather who served in the British Army - he was captured in action on Crete in 1940 and served the rest of the war in a German POW camp. When he was captured he had no ammunition left, and was on a small hill. He threw his helmet at the German soldier running up the hill to capture him. During his time in the POW camp he and many others were forced into labour tinnig food, amongst other things. When they dared they drilled practically invisible holes into the cans, ensuring the food would rot by the time it reached the Eastern Front. He lost quite a few friends that way when they were found out, apparently. There's a lot more he told me, and I knew about the horrors of war from an early age. I'll never forget, and I'll ensure my [future] children never forget, and that they know the role their (sadly now-departed) great-grandfather played in ensuring the existance of the freedoms that we enjoy today. |
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Post by MC Habber on Nov 11, 2003 17:32:53 GMT -5
I was certainly never shielded as a child and I have no doubt that I benefitted by learning about the world as a whole - not just the good parts of it.
I remember learning about wars in elementary school and being shocked at how little some of my classmates knew. I have the impression that more kids now are more sheltered from reality, which is hard to understand given the events of the last few years and the permeance of violence throughout our society and our various forms of entertainment. I hope that the generation which is now or soon to be entering its teen years will not be ignorant of our history. An ignorant population is both easy to control and doomed to repeat the mistakes of its fathers.
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Post by Salama on Nov 11, 2003 19:26:42 GMT -5
Good Thread.
I was wondering what everyone thinks of the Guelph University's student council decision to ban any recognition of Remembrance Day because it "glorified war".
I read that in the Post today, and I was shocked. I would attribute it to the left wing tendencies of University Students, but this is not the thread to discuss that. Instead, I post this as a reminder that threads like these are important, because as BCHab pointed out, the significance of this day is unknown to some, and lost on others.
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Post by MC Habber on Nov 11, 2003 19:55:07 GMT -5
I was wondering what everyone thinks of the Guelph University's student council decision to ban any recognition of Remembrance Day because it "glorified war". I had not heard about that but I think it's rediculous. Being a university student and being also somewhat left wing, I don't think that generalization explains it. I would attribute it to, for lack of a better word, idiocy, a condition which, sadly, afflicts those of all political stripes. |
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Post by M. Beaux-Eaux on Nov 11, 2003 20:13:22 GMT -5
Good Thread. I was wondering what everyone thinks of the Guelph University's student council decision to ban any recognition of Remembrance Day because it "glorified war". The result of naive, soft-headed, unrealistic thinking by children who have led a sheltered and privileged life. |
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Post by franko on Nov 11, 2003 20:20:12 GMT -5
The result of naive, soft-headed, unrealistic thinking by children who have led a sheltered and privileged life. The result of naive, soft-headed, unrealistic thinking by parents who have pampered their children, tried to protect them from the harsh reality of life, and tried to make up for "what they missed" (or wanted). |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Nov 11, 2003 21:43:15 GMT -5
Well, today I remembered my grandfather who gave his life in WWII along with thousands of others like him. Today's freedoms that we enjoy are a result of those ultimate sacrifices.
We won't forget!!
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Post by Habfaith on Nov 11, 2003 22:56:13 GMT -5
The result of naive, soft-headed, unrealistic thinking by children who have led a sheltered and privileged life. EXACTLY!!! It is ironic that they dishonor the memory of the very men who died for their right to spout their drivel. |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Nov 11, 2003 23:23:49 GMT -5
Good Thread. I was wondering what everyone thinks of the Guelph University's student council decision to ban any recognition of Remembrance Day because it "glorified war". I read that in the Post today, and I was shocked. I would attribute it to the left wing tendencies of University Students, but this is not the thread to discuss that. Instead, I post this as a reminder that threads like these are important, because as BCHab pointed out, the significance of this day is unknown to some, and lost on others. It's consistent with others' opinions that castles and fortifications of yesteryear, should be destroyed because of the reminders of "repression," "war," yadda, yadda, yadda ... I don't blame them for their views; not at all. But, it's because of the others' sacrifies that they are permitted their freedom of thought. More to the point, we here in North America can sit outside during summer, drink a beer, with no shirt on, outside our OWN houses that have working plumbing. It's not so much why we can do it. But, how did this come about? How many other countries around the world simply don't permit this? Good gosh, we've got two-ply toiliet paper! Heaven forbid our water is hard! Cheers. |
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