Flanders Pilgrimage – Part 2

November 21th, 2007

Last week I began recounting my memories of visiting Belgium over the Remembrance Day weekend where thousands of young Canadians perished ninety years ago in their pursuit of peace.

Our visit to a first aid field station. The very place where Lt. Col. John McCrae actually penned “In Flanders Field”. The plaque at the site is engraved with the famous poem …in Lt. Col. McCrae’s actual handwriting. I realize that back home hundreds of thousands of school children are memorizing these famous words in preparation for Remembrance Day events. I think they would be impressed with the site.

On the night of November 10th we are in Passchendaele itself, where hundreds gathered at the Canadian Memorial to mark the 90th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Passchendaele.

In the black-as-ink darkness, the MC holds a small flashlight so we can see our notes at the lectern. In the damp air an icy wind chills us to the bone. Minister Jim Prentice speaks of his great uncle he never knew who fell on the first day. Actor Paul Gross, who just completed filming a movie about the battle, talks of his grandfather’s survival. While I solemnly read the letter that Major Talbot Papineau wrote to his mother the day before his death, a violin plays softly in the background.

Again we lay wreathes in remembrance and later we unveil the Canadian Historic Sites commemorative plaque elevating Passchendaele into the company of Vimy Ridge, Dieppe and Juno Beach.

The following day is Sunday, November 11th . . . Remembrance Day, 89 years since the guns fell silent ending WW I.

We join the parade of hundreds, watched by thousands, marching to the Menin Gate in Ypres.

While I stand in the front row under the towering columns awaiting my turn to join with Minister Prentice and Ambassador Glasgow in laying a wreath on behalf of Canada, an elderly Belgian standing ramrod straight beside me, shares his special story. He recalls sixty-three years ago when he was a young lad of sixteen, seeing his first Canadian soldier coming down this very street as Ypres was liberated following four years of Nazi oppression. And as he tries to find the words of appreciation for my country, his old eyes mist up.

For forty years he has volunteered for the Last Post Association. A group that has marched to the Menin Gate and played the Last Post EVERY NIGHT at eight o’clock since 1922, save for the four years of Nazi occupation.

The value he and his fellow countrymen place upon the sacrifices of our Canadian soldiers became even more important when I returned home and exchanged Remembrance Day experiences with my staff. One recounted how no one thought to re-schedule her son’s hockey practise at 11 am that day!

I realize this unfortunate example is not indicative of widespread disregard by Canadians for our fallen and our vets. However, it does demonstrate how those who have been without freedom are especially appreciative of the sacrifices made in the fight to restore it.

There is nothing free about freedom … a sad reality that we continue to learn in Afghanistan.