Though we couldn't see the ceremony or hear any of the speeches, we definitely heard the cannons and we sang along to O Canada (but not to God Save the Queen - we were surprised to see that military personnel salute; I guess the Queen is still technically head of state in Canada). There were a lot of kids there, too, which was really good to see, since in 10-15 years there won't be any World War veterans left. After some dinner at the Parliament Pub (I had a pint in honour of the vets), we headed back to the memorial to check out the wreaths. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is also there, and another thing I didn't know was that people put their poppies on that tomb in added tribute:
It was hovering at zero degrees and sunny; a nice day to celebrate and remember our veterans.
2 comments:
Kudos to you for not singing along to "God Save the Queen". You've made me so proud!
You know what's strange? Maybe it's because they have other days for remembering veterans here in the States (ie. Memorial Day), but Nov. 11 as Veterans Day in the US just doesn't seem to be near as big a deal as Rememberance Day in Canada - not what one might expect given the relative importance placed on the military in the two countries.
The pics are magnificent! I'm glad you got out to see the ceremonies. Here in RC, we had a contingent (about 20 soldiers ) from CFB Shilo to attend the Remerance Day stuff. It was all very moving. The padre was very good too, I'm told.
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