I saw this article and made me feel proud to be Canadian.



British news paper salutes Canada . . . this is a good read. It is funny how it took someone in England to put it into words... Sunday Telegraph Article From today's UK wires:
Salute to a brave and modest nation - Kevin Myers, 'The Sunday Telegraph' LONDON:


Until the deaths of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan , probably almost no one outside their home country had been aware that Canadian troops are deployed in the region.

And as always, Canada will bury its dead, just as the rest of the world, as always will forget its sacrifice, just as it always forgets nearly everything Canada ever does.. It seems that Canada's historic mission is to come to the selfless aid both of its friends and of complete strangers, and then, once the crisis is over, to be well and truly ignored.

Canada is the perpetual wallflower that stands on the edge of the hall, waiting for someone to come and ask her for a dance. A fire breaks out, she risks life and limb to rescue her fellow dance-goers, and suffers serious injuries. But when the hall is repaired and the dancing resumes, there is Canada, the wallflower still, while those she once helped Glamorously cavort across the floor, blithely neglecting her yet again.

That is the price Canada pays for sharing the North American continent with the United States, and for being a selfless friend of Britain in two global conflicts.

For much of the 20th century, Canada was torn in two different directions: It seemed to be a part of the old world, yet had an address in the new one, and that divided identity ensured that it never fully got the gratitude it deserved.

Yet it's purely voluntary contribution to the cause of freedom in two world wars was perhaps the greatest of any democracy. Almost 10% of Canada 's entire population of seven million people served in the armed forces during the First World War, and nearly 60,000 died. The great Allied victories of 1918 were spearheaded by Canadian troops, perhaps the most capable soldiers in the entire British order of battle.

Canada was repaid for its enormous sacrifice by downright neglect, it's unique contribution to victory being absorbed into the popular Memory as somehow or other the work of the 'British.'

The Second World War provided a re-run. The Canadian navy began the war with a half dozen vessels, and ended up policing nearly half of the Atlantic against U-boat attack. More than 120 Canadian warships participated in the Normandy landings, during which 15,000 Canadian soldiers went ashore on D-Day alone.

Canada finished the war with the third-largest navy and the fourth largest air force in the world. The world thanked Canada with the same sublime indifference as it had the previous time.

Canadian participation in the war was acknowledged in film only if it was necessary to give an American actor a part in a campaign in which the United States had clearly not participated - a touching scrupulousness which, of course, Hollywood has since abandoned, as it has any notion of a separate Canadian identity.

So it is a general rule that actors and filmmakers arriving in Hollywood keep their nationality - unless, that is, they are Canadian. Thus Mary Pickford, Walter Huston, Donald Sutherland, Michael J. Fox, William Shatner, Norman Jewison, David Cronenberg, Alex Trebek, Art Linkletter and Dan Aykroyd have in the popular perception become American, and Christopher Plummer, British.

It is as if, in the very act of becoming famous, a Canadian ceases to be Canadian, unless she is Margaret Atwood, who is as unshakably Canadian as a moose, or Celine Dion, for whom Canada has proved quite unable to find any takers.

Moreover, Canada is every bit as querulously alert to the achievements of its sons and daughters as the rest of the world is completely unaware of them. The Canadians proudly say of themselves - and are unheard by anyone else - that 1% of the world's population has provided 10% of the world's peacekeeping forces.

Canadian soldiers in the past half century have been the greatest peacekeepers on Earth - in 39 missions on UN mandates, and six on non-UN peacekeeping duties, from Vietnam to East Timor, from Sinai to Bosnia.

Yet the only foreign engagement that has entered the popular non-Canadian imagination was the sorry affair in Somalia, in which out-of-control paratroopers murdered two Somali infiltrators. Their regiment was then disbanded in disgrace - a uniquely Canadian act of self-abasement for which, naturally, the Canadians received no international credit.

So who today in the United States knows about the stoic and selfless friendship its northern neighbour has given it in Afghanistan?

Rather like Cyrano de Bergerac, Canada repeatedly does honourable things for honourable motives, but instead of being thanked for it, it remains something of a figure of fun. It is the Canadian way, for which Canadians should be proud, yet such honour comes at a high cost. This past year more grieving Canadian families knew that cost all too tragically well.

Lest we forget.

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1st motorcycle 2004 Yamaha V-Star 650 Classic.

ceemes
CAF '78 to '86

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Always ask why.

And of course this great tribute to our fallen and others that serve or have served...

A Pittance of Time

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"Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul!"

My grandpa is still with us and got lucky to get out of WWII alive thanks to a friendly fire bullet wound in Italy.

Tomorrow the game Call of Duty World at War comes out depicting the Japanese theater of WWII unlike the past games with the European front. I feel it pays homage to the boys who fought over there but others may disagree.

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One thing you can count on: You push a man too far, and sooner or later he'll start pushing back.

http://www.remembernovember11th.com/

Read the page and then click on the video camera to see the video.....It's very moving....

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1st motorcycle 2004 Yamaha V-Star 650 Classic.

I strongly disagree.....the game does not pay homage but rather panders to the baser elements of society and glorifies war. Releasing it on November 11th shows that the makers have no sense of f'ing honour or shame and are out for a quick buck. It's akin to releasing a Crucifixion sim on Easter.

For what its worth, my recently deceased Grandfather survived WWII, his younger brother was not so lucky. My father survived Korea, I did my time and tour and the one thing we all had in common, the heart felt belief that there is no glory in war.

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Always ask why.

Great article Blues. Thanks for posting.

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HighSides Trips and Pics
http://totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=16003

We shall never forget.

Sgt (retired) MHJ Palmer, CD, SSM
MOC 435 EME
Arte et Marte
Legion member, Branch #308

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Mike


Loud Pipes Ruin Rights

My Grandfather took Mustard gas in WWI, survived and lived until 1961.
My father, took shrapnel in France, long after survivng the landing at JUNO Beach. Passed away in 1984;
One brother retired PPCLI originally, be damned if I know what the heck he was prior to retirement.
Younger brother currently a Major in the airforce, recruiting officer is his current bailiwick...
Originally Radar tech, and everything else in between... Stationed in Camp Borden...

Nov 11th has always been honoured in our family's homes...


Lest we forget...

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"Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul!"

Please take a moment or two to remember the people who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we may enjoy the freedoms we have today.

Watch and listen to the youtube video "A Pittance of Time".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kX_3y3u5Uo

Yes, I know it was posted last year, but it is worth seeing again.

Please wear your poppy to show your respect for the people who served our countries.

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1st motorcycle 2004 Yamaha V-Star 650 Classic.