It’s a pleasure to be with you
this morning, to take part in your
school’s Remembrance Day ceremonies,
the first for all of us in this new
millennium.
It has been a few years since Canadian
soldiers have faced a battleground,
but the lessons that were learned
in the last century must not be forgotten.
How many of you know the significance
of tomorrow’s date or why we
wear the poppy? Rooted in the aftermath
of the "war to end all wars,"
the lessons from World War I are still
alive today. By wearing the poppy,
the symbol of remembrance for those
who did not survive, we are not only
honouring their memory, but keeping
alive the ideals for which they fought,
we pause to remember an anniversary
that shall never be forgotten.
Earlier this year, Canada brought
home the remains of the Unknown Soldier.
A tomb has been created in Ottawa
to honour this Unknown Soldier. All
we know about this man is that he
was a Canadian who died on the battlefields
of France in World War I. This tomb
is a monument to all soldiers who
died at the battlefields, especially
those whose remains were never recovered.
Although many believe this monument
should have been erected decades ago,
I tend to disagree.
It is a reality that there are few
Canadians still alive who remember
the battles of the Great War, a battle
fought on European soil, which many
say is when Canada became a nation.
Is it not appropriate that the present
century begin by remembering the hard
lessons we learned in the last one?
Historians always say that if we don’t
learn the lessons from the past, we
are bound to repeat them.
When the Unknown Soldier came home,
journalists, historians and average
Canadians took time to reflect on
the horrors and lessons of the wars
Canada has known. The tribute of thousands
of Canadians who paid their respects
on that week-end at the end of May
proved to all veterans that we, as
a nation, will always remember, no
matter how many years have passed.
I know that for most of you, the
two world wars and the Korean war
are but chapters in a history book.
The reality, however, is that many
lives were affected by these battles,
and odds are, many of your relatives
have anecdotes of these times.
I would like take this opportunity
to share a war story that has important
personal meaning for me, especially
at this time of the year.
On August 4, 1914, Canada declared
war on Germany. Within three weeks,
45,000 Canadians had rushed to join
up. John McCrae, a Canadian doctor
and teacher and my grandmother’s
brother, was among them. He was appointed
brigade-surgeon to the First Brigade
of the Canadian Forces Artillery with
the rank of Major and second-in-command.
Just before his departure, he wrote
to a friend:
"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."
He took with him a horse named Bonfire,
a gift from a friend. Later, McCrae
sent his young nieces and nephews
letters supposedly written by Bonfire
and signed with a hoof print.
In April 1915, McCrae was in the
trenches near Ypres, Belgium, in the
area traditionally called Flanders.
Some of the heaviest fighting of the
First World War took place there during
what was known as the Second Battle
of Ypres.
On April 22, the Germans used deadly
chlorine gas against the Allied troops
in a desperate attempt to break the
stalemate. Despite the effects of
the gas, Canadian soldiers fought
relentlessly and held the line for
another 16 days.
In the trenches, John McCrae tended
hundreds of wounded soldiers daily.
He was surrounded by the dead and
the dying. In a letter to his mother,
he wrote of the Battle of Ypres:
"The general impression
in my mind is of a nightmare. We
have been in the most bitter of
fights. For seventeen days and seventeen
nights none of us have had our clothes
off, nor our boots even, except
occasionally. In all that time while
I was awake, gunfire and rifle fire
never ceased for sixty seconds....
And behind it all was the constant
background of the sights of the
dead, the wounded, the maimed, and
a terrible anxiety lest the line
should give way."
The day before he wrote his famous
poem, one of McCrae’s closest
friends was killed in the fighting
and buried in a makeshift grave with
a simple wooden cross. Wild poppies
were already beginning to bloom between
the crosses marking the many graves.
Unable to help his friend or any of
the others who had died, McCrae gave
them a voice through his poem. It
was the second last poem he was to
write before he died early in 1917
of pneumonia and meningitis.
John McCrae was buried with full
military honours in Wimereux Cemetery,
just north of Boulongne, not far from
the fields of Flanders. Bonfire led
the procession, McCrae’s riding
boots reversed in the stirrups. His
death was met with great grief among
his friends and contemporaries. A
friend wrote of the funeral:
"The day of the funeral
was a beautiful spring day; none
of use wore overcoats. You know
the haze that comes over the hills
at Wimereux. I felt so thankful
that the poet of ‘In Flanders
Fields’ was lying out there
in the bright sunshine in the open
space he loved so well."
In part because of the popularity
of In Flanders Field, the poppy
was adopted as the Flower of Remembrance
for the war dead of Britain, France,
the United States, Canada and other
Commonwealth countries.
This is just one of thousands of
stories out there, needing to be told.
If you have the opportunity to speak
to a veteran, I urge you to take the
time and do so. You will undoubtedly
learn about the lessons of life and
how we take important things for granted.
By hearing the stories of a former
soldier, peace-keeper or war-widow,
you will honour the memories of those
who did not make it back, ensuring
that they did not die in vain.
Thank you.
