Remembrance Day 2011 / Veterans' Week: How Will You Remember?

[Natalka]

From November 5 to 11, Canadians will join together to celebrate Veterans‘ Week.
Veterans’ Week is a special time for Canadians to remember those who served Canada in times of war, military conflict and peace.

Make remembrance more than something you feel. Make it something you do.

Share It. Tag It. Link It.


http://veterans.gc.ca/eng/feature/remember

This Veterans’ Week, take the remembrance challenge. There are many ways to show that you remember and honour our Veterans:

• Pin a poppy above your heart.
• Attend the local Remembrance Day ceremony.
• Talk to a friend or relative who has just returned home from Afghanistan or who served in other areas of conflict.
• Listen to Veterans talk about their experiences.
• Create a mashup and share it on the YouTube Channel
• Visit the Veterans Affairs Canada Facebook fan page, write on our wall and share how you remember.
• Follow Veterans Affairs Canada on Twitter and tweet about how you remember
• Change your Facebook profile picture to a poppy.
• Blog, tweet or update your Facebook status about the importance of remembrance.

Above all, we must vow never to forget. However you choose to remember, be sure to share with everyone you know. Together, it is our duty to pass on the legacy and keep the memories of our Canadian Veterans alive.

[Natalka]

So much information is available on all sorts of topics - links from Veterans Affairs - take some time to learn something new!

http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/links

The Memory Project is an amazing archive of profiles of those who served -
http://www.thememoryproject.com/Stories/Browse.aspx

[Natalka]

[Natalka]

Jimmy Eat World
'Hear You Me'

There's no one in town I know
You gave us some place to go.
I never said thank you for that.
I thought I might get one more chance.
What would you think of me now,
so lucky, so strong, so proud?
I never said thank you for that,
now I'll never have a chance.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.

[Natalka]

On November 11, 1999 Terry Kelly was in a drug store in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. At 10:55 AM an announcement came over the store’s PA asking customers who would still be on the premises at 11:00 AM to give two minutes of silence in respect to the veterans who have sacrificed so much for us.
Terry was impressed with the store’s leadership role in adopting the Legion’s “two minutes of silence” initiative. He felt that the store’s contribution of educating the public to the importance of remembering was commendable.
When eleven o’clock arrived on that day, an announcement was again made asking for the “two minutes of silence” to commence. All customers, with the exception of a man who was accompanied by his young child, showed their respect.
Terry’s anger towards the father for trying to engage the store’s clerk in conversation and for setting a bad example for his child was channeled into a beautiful piece of work called, “A Pittance of Time”.




A Pittance of Time
Written by Terry Kelly

They fought and some died for their homeland
They fought and some died now it’s our land
Look at his little child, there’s no fear in her eyes
Could he not show respect for other dads who have died?

Take two minutes, would you mind?
It’s a pittance of time
For the boys and the girls who went over
In peace may they rest, may we never forget why they died.
It’s a pittance of time

God forgive me for wanting to strike him
Give me strength so as not to be like him
My heart pounds in my breast, fingers pressed to my lips
My throat wants to bawl out, my tongue barely resists

But two minutes I will bide
It’s a pittance of time
For the boys and the girls who went over
In peace may they rest, may we never forget why they died.
It’s a pittance of time

Read the letters and poems of the heroes at home
They have casualties, battles, and fears of their own
There’s a price to be paid if you go, if you stay
Freedom is fought for and won in numerous ways

Take two minutes would you mind?
It’s a pittance of time
For the boys and the girls all over
May we never forget our young become vets
At the end of the line it’s a pittance of time

It takes courage to fight in your own war
It takes courage to fight someone else’s war
Our peacekeepers tell of their own living hell
They bring hope to foreign lands that the hatemongers can’t kill.

Take two minutes, would you mind?
It’s a pittance of time
For the boys and the girls who go over
In peacetime our best still don battle dress
And lay their lives on the line.
It’s a pittance of time

In Peace may they rest, lest we forget why they died.
Take a pittance of time

[Crochetlady]

When I worked at my first job many years ago we always observed the two minutes of silence. Such a small thing to do in return for the time the veterans gave.

[hollyquaiscer]

I always remember, my brother lost many good friends, and I was fortunate to get my brother back. Our Veterans deserve the very best for giving us their all. Lest we forget...

http://youtu.be/PWwB9NwDpq0

[safielstar]

Every year, whatever school I happen to be teaching at has their Remembrance Day ceremony, and the classes all participate in Remembrance Day activities either directly related to the ceremony (performing something) or in their class. One year, I had my grade 4s write letters to Canadian troops in Afghanistan to relate Remembrance Day to modern-day conflict, not just historical. Another year with an older grade, a veteran was brought in to speak to the kids. I always bring in photos of my grandfather (fought in WWII and is still alive at 89) to bring the content home for them since so many younger kids don't know anyone involved in conflict or peacekeeping like my generation or my parents' generation did.

What really gets me is when the kids don't have respect for the two minutes of silence, which we all observe in every school. And I don't mean little kindergarten kids either, I'm talking the older kids that know better. Usually I have a good group and they're all good kids that get it, but sometimes I don't, so I use the Terry Kelly video that Natalka kindly posted to show them about having respect for those that fought to give us the freedom they now enjoy.

[Brandy Hunter]

I don't do anything, I can't do anything, my TV stays at Ellen all day (Found out a couple years ago she's the only 'safe' show that doesn't get interrupted)

My Mom wants me to go to church with her this Remembrance Day, but last time I went to Church on Remembrance day I ended up being laughed at for crying. Not what I need.

[walkonby]

I just wear a small badge with a clasp that locks. I placed my Dad's pic in beside a scanned red poppy as I found I kept losing the poppy's I would pin on my shirt.

[Brandy Hunter]

That's a good idea WOB

[bluerose]

Great video Natalka video 2011 I snagged it and put it on facebook Thank you.

Well I put up a poster in our community center and have bookmarkers to give out at the library,I also have a new decorative flying it has red poppies on it. Across the street is a small monument for 3 wars I will go say a silent prayer and read the names there,I will also listen to radio and t.v. specials for Remembrance day. And I will wonder why there is still war after this? and hope for worldpeace.

[sunny3]

I may try to get out to a rememberance day ceremony in town or watch it on tv. I've taken the time to get to know more about the world wars- the soldiers and family side, but also about those who were saved from concentration camps (and those who died there), and how the wars came to be. I don't like war, but I understand that sometimes it seems there's no other solution.

I like the song "Never Again" except when i hear it, I think about a lady I met from Rwanda who's entire family was killed, and a traumatized Sudan refugee I met. Genocide and war have existed since the world wars, and those who fight to try to make things right in various countries still die. We can't ever "forget"- not what happenned during the world wars, but also not forget to continue to work toward peace.

The day is the least that can be done, to show appreciation for the work that the military did, still does, remembering the lives sacrificed... However, I don't feel that it should stop there.

[Darth Penguin]

I grew up with vets from WW1..my great -uncles and my grand parents cousins. Later I discovered I had female relatives who served as nurses close to th front line whose contribuitons were dismissed as they didn't fight..

Then I discovered my uncles and parents's cousins fought in WWII and again the contributions of my female relatives were of a lesser value despite their proximity to the front line

Then I had cousins who served in Northen Ireland and the Falklands and Gulf War I....I have rellies who are currently serving in the British forces..

I'm constantly talking to our children about both WWI and WWII as they are learning about history.

It's a subject I feel strongly about.

[bluerose]

A unique chronicle of the Royal 22e Régiment



To mark Remembrance Day, the NFB documentary The Van Doos in Afghanistan will be available online for 24 hours as of November 11.


Shot in March 2011, the film captures the experiences of the Van Doos, the soldiers of the Royal 22e Régiment, during their tour of duty in Afghanistan. This rare footage, together with the soldiers' comments, conveys the complexity of the issues on the ground and sheds light on a little-known reality.


Starting on November 7, the first day of Veterans' Week, a selection of vignettes from the film will also be posted online, with a new clip released every day. Be sure to catch each episode of this exclusive look at the day-to-day challenges of life on the front line, as told by the soldiers themselves.