Royal Canadian Legion Commemoration
Service
Remarks by Hon. David Kilgour
Member of parliament for Edmonton-Southeast
Remembrance of the 60th
Anniversary of D-Day and
The Battle of Normandy
Jasper Place, Alberta Branch 255
June 6, 2004
Notes from Speech
Greetings from the
Government of Canada.
It is truly an honour to be with you
once again and on such a significant
occasion.
Every year as a nation we remember
and commemorate the anniversary of D-Day and
the Battle of Normandy.
Because this is the sixtieth
anniversary of that date, the occasion has
enjoyed more attention than it has in
previous years, in the form of newspaper
articles, commemorative books, and specials
on T.V. We take it as a given that it is essential for us to remember
what we as a country went through 60 years
ago, and what these men among us survived
for the good of humanity.
At this time, as a nation,
we try to make everyone aware of the
memories that you, who were there, are never
without.
There are among us today men who live
day and night with the echoes of events that
transpired on June 6th, 1944.
Watching film from that day, or
reading articles about it, although
important tools in educating those who were
not there about the event, really only give
us an impression of the experience.
Among you are men who know what it
smells like to be in close quarters with
dozens of seasick men at night on a storm
tossed channel; who know the sound of
artillery fire and airplanes roaring against
the crashing sea; who have seen friends
fall, witnessed massacres of people.
For these men, the smell of sea air,
the sight of a beach, sounds of planes low
overhead have a resonance that few of us can
fathom.
The experiences of these
individuals and what they and their fallen
comrades have achieved is of such breadth
and valour not only in Canada’s history,
but in the history of Humanity itself that
one feels very much in awe of them.
These individuals are heroes, tried
by bravery, agony, exhaustion, loss – they
are the noble survivors of a just war.
But we forget that these
heroes could only become heroes by being
human.
It is not that they were born with
some capacity that made them impervious to
the trials they endured.
They were not without their fear and
doubt.
But their compassion saw the
atrocities being committed by Hitler, and
their conscience would not let them rest.
As my great uncle John McCrae wrote a
friend before going off to fight in the
first World War:
“It is a terrible state of affairs, and I am going because I think every
bachelor, especially if he has experience of
war, ought to go. I am really rather afraid,
but more afraid to stay at home with my
conscience.”
Conscience
and compassion are the most human of traits
– and yet the only ones strong enough to
supersede other very human emotions – like
fear, and desire for comfort and safety.
These traits are what make children
into heroes.
The tendency to want to
glorify heroes by watching and re-watching
them in action can make us forget that those
very soldiers, their wives, their children,
and their loved ones, are among us every
day, with stories to tell.
They stand out in the cold to remind
you to wear a poppy to commemorate comrades
who went before them.
They are a national treasure, with
memories to furnish a chapter in humanity. You can see in their eyes a wisdom and valour that no film
can convey.
Veterans of this war sit
among us today, solemnly, proudly – and we
join them in reflecting on their experience
and achievement in the war.
The pain of some of these memories,
and thoughts of those who’ve gone before,
vie with thankfulness for having survived
it.
Today we try to share the
memories of the experience of war with you,
as for sixty years you have shared with us
the peace and freedom your sacrifice has
won. May
your sacrifice, and your triumph, and your
stories never go untold. As someone said at a similar ceremony ten years ago:
“They
may walk with a little less spring in their
step, and the ranks are growing thinner, but
let us never forget, when they were young,
these men saved the world.”
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