Nothing Solved, Nothing Gained!

Highway of Heroes - The Trews

Canada lost it's innocence this week. In fact I think the multitude of cemeteries and war memorials across the nation and the globe are proof that innocence was lost long ago.

On Wednesday, a soldier standing ceremonial guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Ottawa Ontario was shot point blank and killed. It wasn't random. It was intentional. The shooter went on to the nations house of democracy and started a gun battle there. Canada fought back and Canada won.

Backing up in time a bit, on Monday October 20 two soldiers walking through a parking lot were deliberately run over.  Both men were in uniform. Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent died of his injuries. The other sustained non life threatening injuries. The car fled the scene and police began to pursue him. There was a crash, a confrontation and gun shots that ended in the perpetrators death. 

It was a small town 20 km (25 miles southeast of Montreal) called Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. Less than 100,000 residents called it home but some very prominent families made it there home, including the Formula One racing family the Villeneuves' and NHL player and inventor of the slap-shot Boom Boom Geoffrion. The startling thing about the town for me was not prominence of certain citizens but the fact that the town is also home to 2 military colleges. There would have been soldiers in uniform wandering around town routinely. There was no reason to believe that these men were targets until the gunman was identified. 

I don't claim to be a member of the press or even understand how and why they decide what to report and what is not revealed. I'm sure that there are some standards. But having said that, what really bothered me about this case is that the public very quickly became familiar with the gunman. We started to hear the word radicalized and we knew what it meant. We knew he had facebook and had his passport taken away and that he was under the radar of the police. But it took 2 days before we heard the name of Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent. He served nearly 30 years with the Canadian Military and was due to retire shortly. He died because he wore his uniform proudly. 

There was whisperings that this wasn't a random accident but a planned out terrorist attack on Canadian soil. Most of us were incredulous and held the belief that it was a "one of" crazy person. And then the gun shots rang out in Ottawa on Wednesday the 22nd.  

Corporal Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent
R.I.P.

Wednesday morning was crazy. I was sitting in the dentist chair watching the tv above me and trying to read the closed captioning without seeing those evil instruments :) Were it not for that, I wouldn't have known at all. But when I got back home I made it my business to turn on the TV and try to make some sense of the senseless. 

A gunman shot a ceremonial guard standing post at the Tomb for the Unknown Soldier. Sacred ground of its' own. He then went into the house of Parliament shooting his gun (and fortunately missing his targets) before he was gunned down himself. The city of Ottawa was effectively in lock-down as the police didn't know if they were dealing with one or more gunmen. There were reports of other incidents within the downtown core. It was chaos and panic reigned and it was scary to even watch. 

I've been in a lockdown situation a couple of times. None that lasted as long as this one but I do have some understanding of the fear. Five years ago, there was more anxiety because we didn't have phones to try and communicate. In one case it was a high school, a portable on the school grounds. Little more than a tinfoil box, we could hear people running around outside (we hoped police), we heard helicopters flying above, we heard noises we couldn't identify and we didn't know how serious it was or what it was. In the end it was a gun that was seen in the school. After hours of cowering in fear with high school students who were restive, even the staff was anxious we were finally permitted to leave. Scared, we were terrified and the SWAT team bursting in with guns drawn didn't calm us down any. It was within the first month of school and we sure got to know each other quickly being holed up like that.

Halifax editorial cartoonist - Bruce MacKinnon

Back to Ottawa, with the day coming to a close it was revealed that the young soldier had died of his injuries and that the murderer was dead at the hand of the Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers. The former RCMP officer was one of few who had access to a weapon for defence. As eager as I was for news on the safety of the injured and the safety of the people in the city of Ottawa, I could not bear to watch even one more time the footage of the gun battle that took place in the hallowed halls of the Centre Block of Canada's Parliament Buildings. It became sensationalized in my opinion. People were hurt, people were scared. Armed forces installations in the Maritimes began to send people home to safety. 

I felt vulnerable.  I also felt resentment and anger. I get that the Muslim religion is supposed to be a peaceful one and that these people are extremists. I don't understand how murdering innocent Canadians in their own country is going to further whatever twisted cause is on their agenda. But how do I tell the difference? How do I know I am safe? How do I protect my family and my country? It's one thing to stay away from areas in the world of conflict but I want to spend my days thanking the people in uniform that I pass daily on the street and not say RIP! 

When the name of the Ottawa's executioner became known. There was the usual digging into the background. His picture was posted and it was believed that he had become radicalized and was trying to secure a passport for passage to the middle east. Splashed all over social media was a picture of the man half-covered by a kerchief and holding a rifle - with the caption "Mother cries for victims of shooting and not her son." Well didn't that get some rousing sympathy for her! I get it, I can't imagine what I would feel as a mother knowing my child was capable of such heinous acts. But rather than feeling my typical empathy for her I was frustrated. I would hope that the family, if no one else would notice such a dramatic and troubling change in the behaviour of their child and try and deal with it so that others would not suffer needlessly. Even RCMP officer, Bob Paulson said that "people need to be on alert for changes in behaviour in people and significant changes in motivations of people." 

Someone was aware when these young men changed for typical Canadian boys to young men with radical ideas and desires to fight and kill. Radicalizing was defined as a form of brain-washing. If it can be done, it can be undone. But someone needs to know about it. One man fell under the radar of the police - the other slipped under it. Four deaths, none necessary. Nothing solved, nothing gained.

Military bases across the region here were put under restricted access. Provincial building had heightened security. And at 8:30 in the morning the first report came in of a man concealing a rifle under a blanket in downtown Halifax. The Citadel which proudly stands towering about the city was forced into lockdown - not to protect the citizens of the city but the personnel inside. A man was arrested without incident after leaving a sawed-off shotgun on a city bus. The only sense of relief came from seeing that the man arrested may be troubled but didn't appear radicalized and his weapon was not considered to be a terrorist preference. Good news? The best news is no injuries. 

Ottawa Shooting - Rex Murphy Point of View

So well said! And for the second time today I have heard the phrase "let's not mention his name" when referring to the gunman. For years I have been bothered by the fact that we forget the names of the victims but can't get the name of the perpetrators out of our heads. I will do my best to remember the good people. The ones who were slaughtered, not just this week in Canada - but throughout history. Sometimes it is hard to keep the numbers of many victims in our heads when the single name of demon is constantly repeated on the news and social media. But please on this occasion can we all please try to remember not just Nathan Cirillo but Patrice Vincent. They had different executioners but they both died before their time and they didn't deserve it. They died because of the clothes they wore and nothing more. 


A final thought, once, just once I want one of these gun-toting cowards to be brought before the public to be meted out a justice that goes on like torture day after day. I don't want them to die in a hail of gunfire, I don't want there to be a hero that cuts them down. Shoot them in the knee cap, in the balls, somewhere that won't kill them but they will suffer forever. Bring them before the people so they know how disliked they are, how they are loathed, how they are not martyrs. Let them see the justice from the court of public opinion. Let their croonies know what fate awaits them. Throw them in jail. I'm thinking of the old days when the notion of prison justice was something that you hoped would befall some of the scum we sent behind the stone walls. 

Or send them to a facility up north and chain-gang style tell them the driveway needs to be plowed. 

Halifax Editorial cartoonist - Bruce MacKinnon

credit
RCMP Bob Paulson
CBC news television
Rex Murphy on CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/thenational/content/analysis/rexmurphy/ottawa_shooting.html
Bruce MacKinnon - editorial cartoonist
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_MacKinnon
Halifax Chronicle Herald
http://thechronicleherald.ca/

Honouring the Lives Lost for Freedom and Truth

Pittance of TIme - Terry Kelly

Yesterday was November 11th. Remembrance day in Canada. Veterans Day in the United States.

Yesterday morning I walked down Spring Garden Road toward the cenotaph downtown. It was very humbling to be in the crowds with so many men and women in uniform as we all walked together. Of course, as they walked proudly with heads held high the only thing that stood out for me was my admiration for their selfless commitment - I was beneath them. Attending that service yesterday was the first time I had done so in many years. I have been present for many pseudo-services that were held in the schools in Ontario. There was a time when Remembrance was a day off for school children in that province. But it wasn't a day to sleep in and/or play. We bundled up in our scarves and mittens and prepared to stand in the cold and blistery November day to remember and reflect at the local memorial. Back then, there were a lot of veterans from the two great wars in attendance. Like all Italians, my father did his one year stint in the country's army but as he died when I was an infant, I don't know any stories relating to war from/or about his family. My maternal grandparents sometimes talked about the second world war, but only in the context of being in fear of the Germans taking them to POW camps and my grandfather being arrested/taken away for a time. I don't know if he was a soldier or relieved of duty for some reason since at 30 years of age at the start of World War II I assume he was suitable age-wise. I don't know and I don't know anyone left on that side who might share stories with me. (Mom's family wasn't to fond of Dad's side - and consequently I didn't value their opinion on much). Regardless the point is that with the exception of once hearing my grandfather talk about the sky disappearing in blackness because of the sheer numbers of planes flying over head, I have not heard of personal experiences of war. 

But I have always been emotional drawn to the experience and have some very strong feelings and opinions about it. As I got older and started to read stories and see movies and news stories about effects of war and strife it started to resonate. Canada was a peaceful nation but the advent of television brought the global conflicts into the living room. We didn't just hear about teenage boys jumping the border to avoid the draft, we saw the protests that drove them. We saw the passion they had against the war and we heard the reasons, we sat on our couches and saw the battles and the devastation. There are certain things that I am drawn to that I can't explain,  an attachment that I don't fully comprehend. It has always been that way with Ireland and Scotland - the countries, the people, the music, the history - everything. It's also Nova Scotia. And that is the only one that I have been able to fulfil and that is why this place feels like home - and it always has. But I don't know why - there is no family history of living here etc, that I am aware of. I have my theories but that is another story :) All I know is that I don't have an explanation for the pain I feel for victims of war - both those surviving the experience or never returning from it.

Back to Remembrance Day services. With most of the veterans of the second World War now passed on naturally, there are not a lot of them left to go to the schools and share the stories and it seems that the people who have sacrificed for our country in the name of Peace are being forgotten. Fortunately there is a far smaller percentage of us being directly affected by our country's involvement in Afghanistan, Korea and Vietnam to mention just a few missions that have claimed Canadian lives - but it means that there aren't enough of them to speak at the public gatherings. In the schools, the organization of services falls on the volunteerism of teachers and as some teachers put to me when I asked, there is more prestige and recognition given to the teacher who volunteers to coach a team. Sad really. To that end, where we once had a gathering in the school gymnasium for an assembly complete with speakers, stories (read or re-told), the recitation of the poem In Flanders Field, a lone bugler playing Taps and The Last Post to a sea of often wide-eyed children and young people all wearing the familiar red poppy above their heart as they were told was proper. We now have students sitting at their desk in their classroom listening to a recording of the national anthem, and a canned bugle rendering and shuffling of papers and people in the office during the two minutes of silence. Depending on how the schedule of classes fell - not even necessarily close to the 11th hour. And in the high school if you were on a spare or in the halls - you went about your business, as did most of the office staff. More than once, I sat there disgusted as I watched the teacher at his/her desk continue marking papers, reviewing notes while the students followed their example. In the staff room, no one stopped chewing or talking. No one stood. No one cared.

I care. Too much perhaps. Yesterday's service is the first service in many years that I attended from beginning to end without being escorted out or falling apart. Not that it wasn't emotional for it was, but my heart was lifted being among the many young and old from all factions of the military. ANAVET many had emblazoned on their head gear. Army Navy Air Force Veteran. There were men and women, RCMP, cadets and boy scouts. And as another round went off from the guns at Citadel Hill went off, I noticed the young children who were not bothered by the loudness of the blast from the 21-gun salute. I noticed the many families in the crowd, the teens and the throngs of university students. Their attire (many suits and ties paired with running shoes) and their behaviour exuded reverence. No cell phone ringing/texting was evident, no giggling, talking or frivolity. And I thought, this is what it is supposed to be like. This is Remembrance Day. And it wasn't just in this city, it was the same in every town large and small in every one of the 3 Maritime provinces. Case in point, not far from the city of St. John and the Bay of Fundy, the small town of St. George made the news. A personalized banner was erected along the main streets for some of the towns war heroes. It puts a face to the dead and by seeing the image and the names, the youth got more engaged and everyone wanted to know a bit more about the faces they drove past. They became real people (the near forgotten soldiers) they could be a grandparent or other relative.

  Highway of Heroes - The Trews

The "Hollywood" depictions of war are not always accurate and of course no matter how realistic the images and the story, nothing on the screen can depict the smell of death. Without having been in the bloodied shoes of the soldiers, we can't really know what it's like. But this past weekend (in particular) there were a number of documentaries about some of the battles during the wars where the actual surviving soldiers shared some of their experiences. It was the retelling of the D-Day and the storming of the beaches of Normandy that got me. The sheer number of boats and people that did the "dirty work" and the reference to the few Generals that planned the mission and the deadly calculation errors that were made and cost so many lives. Leaving the "relative" safety of the ships many soldiers jumped into the water to head for the beaches only to drown as the water was still too deep and the gear they carried too heavy. One man spoke of surviving because he had his helmet chin strap securely fastened and a pocket of air inside it brought him to the surface. Planes that were supposed to drop bombs in advance of the soldiers to create craters for some cover were late and there was nowhere on the wide open beach to hide. Then there was the seemingly impenetrable  concrete "pillboxes" that protected German soldiers with narrow windows that allowed nothing but the muzzle of a gun to poke out and mow down approaching enemies. But they were not impenetrable. A soldier standing at the base of the structure could not be seen and with a hand grenade and good sense of timing and coordination the soldier could lob that grenade into the tiny window leaving the Germans within no time to react. In the mentality of war it never ceases to amaze me how one can go from recalling the horror or seeing body parts strewn about the beach to the near elation at storming that bunker to find only the lower portion of a soldier distinguishable among the flesh and pieces of bone strewn about the enclosure. And the thing that struck me was that people of other nations died. Young men and women from the other side died too. No one was safe. One veteran spoke of being wounded 5 times in the first day of the invasion alone. Another gentleman spoke of waking to find his leg missing and then being joyful that he was alive. Or the one who was troubled by finding comfort by laying his wounded body on the cushion of 6 fallen comrades. Another was haunted his entire life knowing that he used the body of a dead soldier that he didn't know as a shield to protect himself before realizing he was dead. And over and over again the sentiment was repeated - kill or be killed.

The Fallen 9000

The above picture is an art project conceived by Jamie Wardley and Andy Moss who paid tribute to the 9000 souls who died on the beaches of Normandy, France by scratching their silhouette in the sand. That number includes Allied and German forces and civilians. It is a sobering and tangible look at the sheer numbers lost in just one battle in one war/conflict. It took two years to pull together the permission and 200 volunteers to pull off the project and the force of the tide to wash it away like so much spilled blood 69 ago. This endeavour was organized to coincide with the observance of the International Day of Peace on September 21, 2013. 

Truth be told, I am opposed to war. And over time that has morphed over to an opposition to organized religion as well. There has been an unacceptable amount of blood shed in the name of religion. My God is better than your God, my country is better than your country. Puts me in mind of a bully. And having faced my share of those monsters - I chose not to fight them - believing they aren't worth it. I'm not suggesting that Hitler (for example) didn't need to be stopped - for he did. His warped and distorted views caused grief and despair long before a gun was raised against his followers. So I wonder, were every one of Hiltlers' soldiers a believer in his philosophy of a superior race or were they drafted and/or forced to enlist and fight in his army? Getting back to that half body in the concrete tomb - he was somebody's son. Is his family in Germany permitted to mourn his lose. We call them the enemy and assign them derogatory terms to justify thinking them less than ourselves. But besides their crazed leader (and a few others) - were they really? I don't think so. If I live or am born in a certain country doesn't mean that I agree with the political agenda or policies. In some places I can voice it, others I can't. Today in our free and peacefully Canada, we often take pot shots at our leaders and suggest that they are certifiable and not fit for command. The way that our federal government is treating many of our veterans today while they line their pockets with tax payer dollars is an acceptable of way of them feeling superior to the "average Joe". 

The bottom line for me is this - This Remembrance Day and those to follow I want to remember all the people that were sacrificed in the name of war. Maybe there was a reason for the conflict but in the resolution many innocent people were caught in the crossfire. And I for one am sorry about that.

I am Canadian and I can speak my mind. Thank you!

I heard a song by this band on the radio recently and decided to search for the video. A band I wasn't familiar with but liking the sound, I listened to a few other offerings. It was a random click that that brought me to this video and I knew right away that I had to include it here. It is less the song and more the commentary before that struck me. People who were supposed to be enemies because they were told that they were. Awful things happen during war. There is destruction and death, civilians and soldiers. But in the chaos there can still shine a bit of compassion that reassures us that there is faith to be had still. And here is the story of two men whose paths crossed as enemies and they became allies and a symbol of forgiveness that I for one needs to know exists in and out of the times of war.

So It Goes - Hollerado

credit where credit is due:

http://www.canadaatwar.ca/

http://members.shaw.ca/kcic1/peacekeepers2.html

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/banners-in-n-b-town-honour-local-veterans-1.1535131

http://now.msn.com/bodies-drawn-on-normandy-beach-to-commemorate-d-day-deaths-on-international-peace-day

11.11.11 It's not a day or a moment...it's a lifetime of sacrifices that were made and a lifetime that I shall be thankful and remember

Highway of Heroes - The Trews

11.11.11
I don't think that this day can pass without considering the significance of the date. Some see luck in days like this. I spent a life time hearing about Remembrance Day being recognized on the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour. Today everything lined up and at 11:11 this morning the radio stopped their regular programming and I stopped to reflect. 

I am not going to jump over the fence and suggest that Remembrance Day should become a National holiday again like it was when I was growing up. Having grandparents and other relatives who served in a World War it was expected that while you didn't attend school, you most definitely attended services at the Cenotaph and more than likely a church service as well. It was not regarded as a day off to sleep in or hang with your chums...at least not in the morning. My fear is that today with fewer families having heard first hand the experiences of war that Remembrance Day would lose even more of its' significance as students given a day to attend community services would find other ways to occupy their time off. I would rather schools themselves put more effort into the education students in all grades and of all ages about the significance of Remembrance Day, the Poppy (and how to wear it properly) and the Poppy donation boxes. Even if only for one day...surely we can make that effort!

But in reality, it is not a day or a moment that we should pause, but rather a lifetime that we should remember to be grateful for the freedom that we have at the expense of people we do not know. Today we hear an individual name on the news of someone who has paid the ultimate price in our peacekeeping missions in countries far from our own. We see the motorcades making their way along the Highway of Heroes. Are we becoming desensitized to it all...to death?

I never heard a lot of stories about my grandparents experiences during the war. But an experience in my youth affected me deeply when it comes to Remembrance Day. I don't know what that was however. A veteran speaking at a service I attended perhaps. What I do know is that I cannot make it dry-eyed through a commemoration. In fact I was escorted out of a church by an usher because I got so emotional one year. It has been said that I am overly-sensitive period and this is just another manifestation of it. Perhaps. But today, I am even more saddened by what I see as apathy toward the significance of the day. Shoppers continue to shop, fewer people wear the Poppy, and the theft of Poppy donation boxes is happening with increased frequency. 

I am opposed to war, killing and conflict. To my minds eye it happens all to often with a murky line declaring a winner. Reality is we all lose. Particularly today when some countries go to war not because they are threatened but rather putting innocent lives in the line of fire for a cause that no one really understands. 

Why is it okay to bear arms and head for a country on the other side of the world to fight because your government doesn't agree with their government. On a smaller scale is this not similar to turf wars engaged in by gangs in our own communities. Where did they learn that fighting and weaponry is the way to get what you want? Is this the example we want to lead by? If you agree, I can almost guarantee that you will be as moved as I by many of the songs composed by Chris de Burgh on the subject. The following is just one example. 

Borderline - Chris de Burgh

"These are only boys and I will never know how men can see the wisdom in a war"

Ironically with the immigration that Canada has experienced from people fleeing political persecution and seeking personal freedom, you would think that these immigrants would want to pause and thank the veterans who made that freedom they have come to Canada to enjoy.