“Lest We Forget”

November 10 , 2004

Lest We Forget. Imagine those immortal words imprinted in Morse Code on the side of a massive wall for all to see. Well, I learned they are … in the shape, sizes and positions of windows at the new National War Museum in Ottawa.

Last week, I had the unique privilege of being granted a one-hour guided tour of the yet-to-be completed $136-million dollar facility. And, in spite of some earlier reservations, to say I was profoundly impressed would be an understatement.

The sheer size alone overwhelms you. 440,000 square feet … double the permanent exhibition space of the old stone building on Sussex Drive that I complained bitterly about in this column nine years ago. But details like finely- tuned temperature and humidity control, a 240-seat theatre, four large classrooms and a cafeteria … none of which existed at the old museum, is not what impressed me the most.

It was the inestimable amount of time and thought that has gone into the new structure’s design and detail. Things like the fact that the entire building is situated at LeBreton Flats and points towards Parliament Hill to signify that it is Parliament, the voice of the people, that decides when to commit our military.

Small details, like a visitor walking down an interior staircase can catch a glimpse of the distant Peace Tower to signify how, without vigilance and protection, peace can be fragile and fleeting.

The planning that went into the quiet space, a high-walled concrete room with only one small window high above, through which a ray of natural light will fall perfectly on the tombstone of the Unknown Soldier on the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year.

The official opening of the new war museum will be held on Sunday, May 8th, 2005. That is no random date. Appropriately, it is the 60th Anniversary of VE Day – when Allied troops achieved victory in Europe. What’s more, in what I believe is an especially wise decision, the war museum is devoting the day before, Saturday, May 7th, exclusively to Canada’s war veterans. They will be treated to a special advance tour of the new museum.

Reflecting on how long this fitting home for our nation’s military history has been in coming, I also thought back to how emotional it was to write another column. My 1997 Remembrance Day column was penned in Italy and faxed from a hotel room in Rome. Every year at this time I remember that moment when I had the honour of laying a wreath at the Moro River War Cemetery south of Ortona.

This October, my colleague, Betty Hinton, had the privilege of accompanying a Veterans’ pilgrimage to Italy to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Italian Campaign. The words she found at the grave of one of our fallen soldiers are worth repeating and always remembering … “To the world he was only one, but to his family he was the only one.” Lest We Forget.

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