Lest We Forget

[Scottish⑦Canuck]

It may seem like an inappropriate time and place for it, but I feel this misconception just has to be cleared.

I would really prefer our troops to have stayed home safe and sound until something started brewing in our neighbourhood. (Isn't that a commonly expressed sentiment when it comes to wars in Iraq, Libya, etc.?)

[canucks.brad]

I would really prefer our troops to have stayed home safe and sound until something started brewing in our neighbourhood. (Isn't that a commonly expressed sentiment when it comes to wars in Iraq, Libya, etc.?)

[VANVAN604]

I think we should all ignore Buggernut in this thread.

Although, I like everyone else have a lot of choice words for his ignorance, I'm sure thats the rise he/she would want out us.

[Buggernut]

if we had waited and stayed home safe and sound until something was brewing in our neighbourhood, then you would have had to wait unit Germany landed on the shores of North America. This means they would have conquered Europe...meaning we would not be having this discussion right now, there would be no freedom of speech, national hockey league, and our world might be in shambles.

im not a history buff but if England fell..Germany would have been able to direct their attention to USSR and had they gotten that...it would have been all over.

[Coda]

THIS country??? Are we talking the vets from the war of 1812 here?

AFAIK, Hitler never sent troops across the ocean to attack us here. Full marks to our boys for going over to Europe to fight and stop an evil megalomaniac dictator from spreading his horizons, but the Europeans should really have stood up for themselves.

[Wetcoaster]

Per the originating post:

NOTE - this thread is not intended to be a debate about war and peace... if you wish to debate that then start a new thread. This thread is dedicated to those who gave their lives in the service of our country.

[Vapourstreak]

Thank you.

[John316]

Thank you all brave Vets that fought for our freedom!

[Wetcoaster]

Some links:

We Remember (video)

http://www.vancouversun.com/videos/news/video.html?embedCode=lqODEwMzr5t5GDBLOvFZ8rXzEzAqhZJa

Remembrance Day November 11 201, Vancouver - Victory Square Cenotaph (video)

http://www.vancouversun.com/videos/news/video.html?embedCode=o1ZjQwMzrv4E4JbaFQq0xqbXYrHNgzUW

Members of the Russian navy lay a wreath in Remembrance Day ceremonies at the Victory Square cenotaph on Friday.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Members+Russian+navy+wreath+Remembrance+ceremonies+Victory+Square+cenotaph+Friday/5701472/story.html#ixzz1dWqNsaPc

Vancouver Province links to articles, photo galleries and videos

http://www.theprovince.com/news/remembrance-day/index.html

[Zippgunn]

I especially remember the vets like the Sikh WW2 vets who were told to remove their "hats" in the Legion awhile back in Surrey IIRC or the Chinese Canadians and Japanese Canadians that fought for the country that discriminated against them so harshly. These people deserve special respect in my book. I don't wear a poppy because of the Surrey incident and have been accosted several times by poppy vendors but when I tell them why they clam up fast. Pity we lost WW2; we were fighting fascism (and racism), remember?

[Wetcoaster]

I especially remember the vets like the Sikh WW2 vets who were told to remove their "hats" in the Legion awhile back in Surrey IIRC or the Chinese Canadians and Japanese Canadians that fought for the country that discriminated against them so harshly. These people deserve special respect in my book. I don't wear a poppy because of the Surrey incident and have been accosted several times by poppy vendors but when I tell them why they clam up fast. Pity we lost WW2; we were fighting fascism (and racism), remember?

[canucksfan123456]

I'm a day late but a big thank you to all these heros, past and present, who have put their lives on the line.

[nucklehead]

http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/article/20111111/KAMLOOPS0101/111119956/-1/kamloops/new-technology-renews-old-friendship

Nice article about two old WW2 friends septerated for 66 years reunited through Skype.

Destructive, divisive and deadly it is, yet the bittersweet irony of war is that it can form the most enduring of human bonds.

Dick Reimer and Alfred White, two Second World War privates in the New Westminster Regiment, Fifth Division, would agree.

They grew to be the best of friends as young regimental comrades fighting in the trenches of Europe, but when the smoke of war cleared, Pte. Dick Reimer lost track of Pte. Alfred White.

Sixty-six years later, through Skyping, a technology that was unthinkable when they parted company, the pair was reunited.

“I saw him on TV and he saw me,” Reimer, 86, recalled in his suite at Berwick on the Park.

“When I saw Alfie, tears started coming to both cheeks, not realizing you would meet a friend you fought with during the war,” he said.

The remarkable reunion of Reimer and White — now in his ’90s and residing on the veteran’s ward of Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital — took place earlier this year.

Karen Reimer, Dick’s daughter-in-law, had to do some sleuthing to bring it about. She contacted the regiment, which provided White’s last contact information.

“Theoretically, he was still around,” she said, but found the York phone number was out of service. She traced his number through the Toronto directory, though.

“We had a brief conversation; I didn’t want to frighten him so I kept it short.” She cross-referenced the phone number and found it was at Sunnybrook. Through the hospital, she was able to track down White’s daughter. His family helped arrange the reunion via Skype.

“There were lots of tears, weren’t there, Dad? It was very, very emotional.”

White had a stroke a dozen years ago that left him unable to verbalize his thoughts, but through his family he was able to understand the exchange.

“He just had a smile plastered on his face the whole time.”

In 1943, Reimer was just 17, the youngest of 22 children of Mennonite farmers, but he wasn’t going to let his birth year stop him from doing his duty for King and country. He lied about his age and was soon off to train in Nova Scotia and Ontario as a Bren gunner. By the time he reached Europe, the Allied armies had landed in Italy.

That’s where Reimer caught up with his regiment and met White, a sniper. They became fast friends.

“We were in a slit trench together when we got shelled. There were five shells coming at you at a time. Alfred kept saying, ‘Aw, they’re not going to hit us, anyway,’ then another five shells covered us with dirt.”

White, a few years older and already hardened by battle, impressed Reimer with his bravado.

“That’s the way he was taught. He was scared, too. I put my head down and tried to drive it to China. He was the first guy wounded on the front line of that regiment (before they met).

“We were equals, but I always looked up to him,” Reimer said. “I was only 18. I was scared crapless. If someone tells you they weren’t scared, they were liars. But I did my duty.”

They fought side by side as the Allied armies liberated Europe – up through Italy, into France, then the Low Countries, Belgium and the Netherlands, fighting from Arnhem to Zuider Zee before crossing the Rhine. They faced a formidable adversary in the German army.

“They kept shooting at us as we were advancing. I can remember one bullet went by my ear. I can still feel it.”

After Victory in Europe Day, Reimer was anxious to return home, so he signed up for the Pacific theatre, the war against Japan. By the time he reached Ontario, the Japanese had surrendered.

After the war, Reimer went to work for the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, later B.C. Rail, and raised his family in Squamish. Three years ago, he relocated to Kamloops to be nearer to family, never thinking it would also bring him nearer to an old friend. "I couldn't believe it", he said.

[hockeyfan87]

My family was greatly impacted by both world wars.

One grandfather was English. He was sent to the pacific theater where he was a minesweeper fighting Japanese in Burma. He went from starting as a Private to being a Warrant Officer first class and received a recommendation from the British Monarch at the time which I am in possession of now. His father, my grandfather, also fought for the British in World War I.

The other grandfather was Dutch. He was a butcher by trade and when Holland was quickly over swept by the Germans he was sent to Germany for the duration of the war to work for them. It was very difficult thing for him to be sent away from his family but given hindsight I think he was one of the lucky ones. He worked, from what I've been told, in relatively good conditions - he had food to eat and a place to sleep. While he was in Germany he met his future wife, my grandmother, who was a German. This would cause friction with his Dutch family after the war and led to them emigrating to Canada.

My German Grandmother's father fought in both world wars. He was conscripted when he was 16 years old to fight in the trenches during World War I. Having heard about the conditions of people dying left and right from dysentery he got scared and deserted. For the remainder of the war he was a wanted man and would have faced death by firing squad if he had been caught. After the war his desertion seemed to be forgotten and he lived average life from what I gather. When World War II started he was once against conscripted and grudgingly went along with it. He was a paratrooper and at one point he was in a plane and was to scared to jump and his superior officer ended up kicking him out the door of the plane. He ended up with a broken leg from the affair.

What do I make of Remembrance Day? I think it serves a purpose. To remind everyone what human beings are capable of. The average soldier did not wish to fight and was forced into it because of factors that were out of their control. I think we should use Remembrance Day as an educational tool to hopefully prevent such atrocities happening on a similar scale again.

[Zippgunn]

My father was a veteran (Korean War) and held office in the Royal Canadian Legion in his local branch and provincially. After the incident with the Sikh turbans being classified as headgear he pushed hard for apologies and clarification of the policy. When they were not forthcoming he resigned in disgust and has had nothing further to do with the Legion.

[diesel_3]

It's crazy how fast time flies...2 years ago I was overseas and unfortunately had to work yesterday which was pretty upsetting.

It is definitely a different war today then it was in WWI, WWII and Korea. Hard to think that being 24 years old (At the time of my Task Force) I would have been considered 'Old' in the great Wars!

What those men and women accomplished for our country at such young ages makes them true Canadian Heroes!

Always a proud day to be a Canadian!

[diesel_3]

Good for him; that's what I did. I have all the respect in the world for the vets of WW1, WW2 and Korea. I also feel for the vets of our peacekeeping troops and for the vets of our adventure in Afghanistan who are getting the shaft from Veterans affairs with regards to things like PTSD. I wish we weren't there, however.

[JAH]

In regards to the turban/Legion issue: DO NOT confuse the policies and practices of the Legion with the mentality and ethos of the CF and it's members. There has been a long rift between the serving soldier and the Legion. The Legion has been overtaken by non-military blowhards. The turban issue is a non-issue in the CF.

Diesel - I experienced a similar thing in my post-deployment. We had a briefing prior to deployment that was perhaps 30 minutes long on the mental issues we may experience while overseas. This may seem inadequate, but this lack of attention pales in comparison to the post-deployment briefing. A Captain came in with a couple of VA folks and said, and I quote, 'I want to see if I can get this down to less than 5 minutes. You know all those things we said you may experience? You'll feel the same thing again when you go back home. Questions?'

When I did my post-deployment DAG, they noticed I hadn't had my psych debrief. This was a year later when they told me. I got really mad, and let them know in no uncertain terms how I felt about their apparent lack of concern over my mental health (which was fine, but how would they know?).

[Sharpshooter]

In regards to the turban/Legion issue: DO NOT confuse the policies and practices of the Legion with the mentality and ethos of the CF and it's members. There has been a long rift between the serving soldier and the Legion. The Legion has been overtaken by non-military blowhards. The turban issue is a non-issue in the CF.

Diesel - I experienced a similar thing in my post-deployment. We had a briefing prior to deployment that was perhaps 30 minutes long on the mental issues we may experience while overseas. This may seem inadequate, but this lack of attention pales in comparison to the post-deployment briefing. A Captain came in with a couple of VA folks and said, and I quote, 'I want to see if I can get this down to less than 5 minutes. You know all those things we said you may experience? You'll feel the same thing again when you go back home. Questions?'

When I did my post-deployment DAG, they noticed I hadn't had my psych debrief. This was a year later when they told me. I got really mad, and let them know in no uncertain terms how I felt about their apparent lack of concern over my mental health (which was fine, but how would they know?).

[Wetcoaster]

BUMP...

Sunday, November 11, 2012 is Remembrance Day - a time to stop for a minute of silence on the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour and remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

LEST WE FORGET

Remembrance Day Ceremony Lighting the Torch Jack Poole Plaza

Start Date: November 11, 2012

Start Time: 08:00

Details:

Up Early? Come whatch the Torch being lit.

Location:

Jack Poole Plaza / Vancouver Torch

1055 Canada Place

Vancouver, British Columbia

Remembrance Day will start on Sunday at 8 a.m. in Vancouver with the lighting of the Olympic flame at the Jack Poole Plaza, 1055 Canada Place.

Elsewhere, dozens of ceremonies around B.C. start between 10 and 10:30 a.m.

An Ipsos Reid poll commissioned by the Historica Dominion Institute, released Friday, shows three in 10 Canadian expect to attend a Remembrance event this Sunday. That's up from 24 per cent last year and 22 per cent in 2010.

The following shows a partial list of locations for services:

Abbotsford: Thunderbird Memorial Square off Veterans Way

Burnaby: Confederation Park, 250 Willingdon Ave.

Chilliwack: 5661 Vedder Rd.

Coquitlam: 1121 King Albert Ave.

Delta: North Delta Social Heart Plaza, 11415 84 Ave.

Langley: 20570 56 Ave.

Maple Ridge: 11960 Haney Place

North Vancouver: 1200 Lonsdale

Richmond: Granville and No. 3 Rd.

Surrey: 13525 106th Ave.

Vancouver: Victory Square, Hastings and Beatty

Victoria: B.C. Legislature, Government and Belville

West Vancouver: Memorial Arch, 580 18 St.

Whistler: 4100 Village Gate Blvd.

White Rock: City Hall, 15322 Buena Vista Ave.

http://www.theprovin...l#ixzz2BsPGhvyI