In the line of duty: Canada's casualties - British Artcle
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Perhaps this is highjacking a thread in the second post, or perhaps continuing the thread but I am loath to start yet another Afghanistan thread with a simple post.
Mods, if there is a better place for this post that I could not find then please transplant.
This is a good read - funny how it took someone in England to put it intowords... Sunday Telegraph ArticleFrom today ' s UK wires: Salute to a brave and modest nationKevin Myers, The Sunday Telegraph
LONDON - Until the deaths last week of four Canadian soldiersaccidentally killed by a U.S. warplane in Afghanistan , probably almost no one outside their home country had been aware that Canadian troops weredeployed in the region. And as always, Canada will now bury its dead, just as the rest of the world as always will forget its sacrifice, just as italways forgets nearly everything Canada ever does. It seems that Canada ' s historic mission is to come to the selfless aidboth 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 thatstands on the edge of the hall, waiting for someone to come and ask her fora dance. A fire breaks out, she risks life and limb to rescue her fellowdance-goers, and suffers serious injuries. But when the hall is repairedand the dancing resumes, there is Canada , the wallflower still, while thoseshe once helped glamorously cavort across the floor, blithely neglecting heryet again.
That is the price Canada pays for sharing the North American continentwith the United States , and for being a selfless friend of Britain in twoglobal conflicts. For much of the 20th century, Canada was torn in twodifferent 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 neverfully got the gratitude it deserved.
Yet its purely voluntary contribution to the cause of freedom in twoworld wars was perhaps the greatest of any democracy. Almost 10% of Canada ' sentire population of seven million people served in the armed forces duringthe First World War, and nearly 60,000 died. The great Allied victories of1918 were spearheaded by Canadian troops, perhaps the most capable soldiersin the entire British order of battle. Canada was repaid for its enormous sacrifice by downright neglect, itsunique contribution to victory being absorbed into the popular Memory as somehow or other the work of the "British." The Second World War provided rerun. The Canadian navy began the war with a half dozen vessels, and ended up policing nearly half of the Atlantic against Boat attack. More than 120Canadian warships participated in the Normandy landings, during which 15,000Canadian soldiers went ashore on Day alone. Canada finished the war withthe talkiest navy and the flakiest air force in the world. The world thanked Canada with the same sublime indifference as it hadthe 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 touchingscrupulousness which, of course, Hollywood has since abandoned, as it hasany notion of a separate Canadian identity. So it is a general rule that actors and filmmakers arriving in Hollywoodkeep their nationality - unless, that is, they are Canadian. Thus MaryPickford, Walter Huston, Donald Sutherland, Michael J. Fox, William Shatner,Norman Jewison, David Cronenberg, Alex Trebek, Art Linkletter and DanAykroyd have in the popular perception become American, and ChristopherPlummer, British. It is as if, in the very act of becoming famous, 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 provedquite 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 ofthem. The Canadians proudly say of themselves - and are unheard by anyoneelse - that 1% of the world ' s population has provided 10% of the world ' peacekeeping forces. Canadian soldiers in the past half century have beenthe 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 on-Canadianimagination was the sorry affair in Somalia , in which out-of-controlparatroopers murdered two Somali infiltrators. Their regiment was thendisbanded 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 selflessfriendship its northern neighbour has given it in Afghanistan ? Rather likeCyrano de Bergerac, Canada repeatedly does honourable things for honourablemotives, but instead of being thanked for it, it remains something of afigure of fun. It is the Canadian way, for which Canadians should be proud, yet suchhonour comes at a high cost. This week, four more grieving Canadian familiesknew that cost all too tragically well. **** ****Please pass the on or print it and give it to any of your friends orrelatives who served in the Canadian Forces, it is a wonderful tribute tothose who choose to serve their country and the world in our quiet Canadianway.
Mods, if there is a better place for this post that I could not find then please transplant.
This is a good read - funny how it took someone in England to put it intowords... Sunday Telegraph ArticleFrom today ' s UK wires: Salute to a brave and modest nationKevin Myers, The Sunday Telegraph
LONDON - Until the deaths last week of four Canadian soldiersaccidentally killed by a U.S. warplane in Afghanistan , probably almost no one outside their home country had been aware that Canadian troops weredeployed in the region. And as always, Canada will now bury its dead, just as the rest of the world as always will forget its sacrifice, just as italways forgets nearly everything Canada ever does. It seems that Canada ' s historic mission is to come to the selfless aidboth 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 thatstands on the edge of the hall, waiting for someone to come and ask her fora dance. A fire breaks out, she risks life and limb to rescue her fellowdance-goers, and suffers serious injuries. But when the hall is repairedand the dancing resumes, there is Canada , the wallflower still, while thoseshe once helped glamorously cavort across the floor, blithely neglecting heryet again.
That is the price Canada pays for sharing the North American continentwith the United States , and for being a selfless friend of Britain in twoglobal conflicts. For much of the 20th century, Canada was torn in twodifferent 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 neverfully got the gratitude it deserved.
Yet its purely voluntary contribution to the cause of freedom in twoworld wars was perhaps the greatest of any democracy. Almost 10% of Canada ' sentire population of seven million people served in the armed forces duringthe First World War, and nearly 60,000 died. The great Allied victories of1918 were spearheaded by Canadian troops, perhaps the most capable soldiersin the entire British order of battle. Canada was repaid for its enormous sacrifice by downright neglect, itsunique contribution to victory being absorbed into the popular Memory as somehow or other the work of the "British." The Second World War provided rerun. The Canadian navy began the war with a half dozen vessels, and ended up policing nearly half of the Atlantic against Boat attack. More than 120Canadian warships participated in the Normandy landings, during which 15,000Canadian soldiers went ashore on Day alone. Canada finished the war withthe talkiest navy and the flakiest air force in the world. The world thanked Canada with the same sublime indifference as it hadthe 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 touchingscrupulousness which, of course, Hollywood has since abandoned, as it hasany notion of a separate Canadian identity. So it is a general rule that actors and filmmakers arriving in Hollywoodkeep their nationality - unless, that is, they are Canadian. Thus MaryPickford, Walter Huston, Donald Sutherland, Michael J. Fox, William Shatner,Norman Jewison, David Cronenberg, Alex Trebek, Art Linkletter and DanAykroyd have in the popular perception become American, and ChristopherPlummer, British. It is as if, in the very act of becoming famous, 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 provedquite 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 ofthem. The Canadians proudly say of themselves - and are unheard by anyoneelse - that 1% of the world ' s population has provided 10% of the world ' peacekeeping forces. Canadian soldiers in the past half century have beenthe 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 on-Canadianimagination was the sorry affair in Somalia , in which out-of-controlparatroopers murdered two Somali infiltrators. Their regiment was thendisbanded 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 selflessfriendship its northern neighbour has given it in Afghanistan ? Rather likeCyrano de Bergerac, Canada repeatedly does honourable things for honourablemotives, but instead of being thanked for it, it remains something of afigure of fun. It is the Canadian way, for which Canadians should be proud, yet suchhonour comes at a high cost. This week, four more grieving Canadian familiesknew that cost all too tragically well. **** ****Please pass the on or print it and give it to any of your friends orrelatives who served in the Canadian Forces, it is a wonderful tribute tothose who choose to serve their country and the world in our quiet Canadianway.
B
BattleHawk
Guest
Dont agree with the Airborne part but an ovelall good article;
Subject: UK Newspaper Salutes Canada!
> >
> >This is a good read . It is funny how it took someone in England to put it
> >into words...
> >
> >Sunday Telegraph, London Article
> >By Kevin Myers
> >
> >A salute to a brave and modest nation!
> >
> >LONDON (England) - 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 its 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, its
> >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 on-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.
Subject: UK Newspaper Salutes Canada!
> >
> >This is a good read . It is funny how it took someone in England to put it
> >into words...
> >
> >Sunday Telegraph, London Article
> >By Kevin Myers
> >
> >A salute to a brave and modest nation!
> >
> >LONDON (England) - 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 its 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, its
> >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 on-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.
- Reaction score
- 0
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Great article.
I resided in Holland fore five years and spent time all over Western Europe. Most Europeans, save one exception, know nothing about our country other than Mounties, Moose and Hockey (I'm completely serious). The one exception to this generalised Euro amnesia are the Dutch. They have complete respect for Canada, the WWII generation to be specific. Even today their children are taught in detail about Canada's role and sacrifice during the liberation of their country.
Unfortunately I didn't experience this anywhere else during my stay.
I resided in Holland fore five years and spent time all over Western Europe. Most Europeans, save one exception, know nothing about our country other than Mounties, Moose and Hockey (I'm completely serious). The one exception to this generalised Euro amnesia are the Dutch. They have complete respect for Canada, the WWII generation to be specific. Even today their children are taught in detail about Canada's role and sacrifice during the liberation of their country.
Unfortunately I didn't experience this anywhere else during my stay.
B
BattleHawk
Guest
Thats really eat how they tach that. I didnt know. Thanks,
BattleHawk
BattleHawk
- Reaction score
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It seems to be getting a revival via e-mail - it was published in the Cranbrook here's the original piece from the Sunday Telegraph of April 21, 2002, shared with the usual disclaimer...
The country the world forgot - again
Kevin Myers, Sunday Telegraph, 21 Apr 02
Article link
UNTIL the deaths last week of four Canadian soldiers accidentally killed by a US warplane in Afghanistan, probably almost no one outside their home country had been aware that Canadian troops were deployed in the region. And as always, Canada will now 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 which Canada pays for sharing the North American Continent with the US, 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.
advertisement
Yet its purely voluntary contribution to the cause of freedom in two world wars was perhaps the greatest of any democracy. Almost 10 per cent 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, its 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 which the US 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 film-makers 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 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 unshakeably 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 per cent of the world's population has provided 10 per cent of the world's peace-keeping forces. Canadian soldiers in the past half century have been the greatest peace-keepers on earth - in 39 missions on UN mandates, and six on non-UN peace-keeping duties, from Vietnam to East Timor, from Sinai to Bosnia.
Yet the only foreign engagement which 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 US 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 weekend four shrouds, red with blood and maple leaf, head homewards; and four more grieving Canadian families know that cost all too tragically well.
The country the world forgot - again
Kevin Myers, Sunday Telegraph, 21 Apr 02
Article link
UNTIL the deaths last week of four Canadian soldiers accidentally killed by a US warplane in Afghanistan, probably almost no one outside their home country had been aware that Canadian troops were deployed in the region. And as always, Canada will now 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 which Canada pays for sharing the North American Continent with the US, 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.
advertisement
Yet its purely voluntary contribution to the cause of freedom in two world wars was perhaps the greatest of any democracy. Almost 10 per cent 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, its 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 which the US 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 film-makers 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 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 unshakeably 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 per cent of the world's population has provided 10 per cent of the world's peace-keeping forces. Canadian soldiers in the past half century have been the greatest peace-keepers on earth - in 39 missions on UN mandates, and six on non-UN peace-keeping duties, from Vietnam to East Timor, from Sinai to Bosnia.
Yet the only foreign engagement which 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 US 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 weekend four shrouds, red with blood and maple leaf, head homewards; and four more grieving Canadian families know that cost all too tragically well.
- Reaction score
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Some of our American neighbours don't even know where Canada is. The missus and I took a trip to California last year and we were talking with a couple at a local restaraunt in Sandiago. When we mentioned we were from Canada, they both said "were's that" this is no guff! They had no idea were Canada was! Needless to say we both had a new appreciation for the word, isolationist.
Seems Europeans and Asians know more about Canada that our neighbours to the south do. In my travels in Europe while stationed in Germany, whenever we travelled anywere in Europe and mentioned we were from Canada, everyone new were it was. "Canada very good".
Seems Europeans and Asians know more about Canada that our neighbours to the south do. In my travels in Europe while stationed in Germany, whenever we travelled anywere in Europe and mentioned we were from Canada, everyone new were it was. "Canada very good".
B
BattleHawk
Guest
Sorry for the late responce. I was in a hurry when I wrote that. I do think the the truth should be written, but I don't agree with the action taken. I believe that those responsible should be punished accordingly. Don't ask what I think they deserve because the last time I gave my opinion, I got smashed for it. I don't think the whole unit should have been disbanded. I don't claim to be highly educated in the matter, but this is just why I don't agree with the Airborne part. please don't tell me to stay in my lane and only answer questions I'm highly educated about, I'm just answering a question directed at me.
Regards,
BattleHawk
Regards,
BattleHawk
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BH...
The gov't had decided that the CF would be reduced in size & the CAR presented a giftwrapped oportunity the politicians just couldn't resist.
Canads's politicians did a spectacular job of staging the perfect witch hunt with it's public inquiry that ran on and on and on..... until the public were happy to see the CAR go away - regardless of the expertise we tossed into the waste bin.
The gov't had decided that the CF would be reduced in size & the CAR presented a giftwrapped oportunity the politicians just couldn't resist.
Canads's politicians did a spectacular job of staging the perfect witch hunt with it's public inquiry that ran on and on and on..... until the public were happy to see the CAR go away - regardless of the expertise we tossed into the waste bin.
B
BattleHawk
Guest
Well,as I said before, I'm not an expert. Thanks for the info. Although I've heard that new units were made out of former Airborne men with all of the expertise to teach new guys the skills. But that's just a rumour I heard.
Regards,
BattleHawk
Regards,
BattleHawk
ArmyRick
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Reference article Its good to see someone out there recognizes us.
If anybody read the story of the FOO in a-stan from last summer (One of ours) apparently the brit paras or the royal marines were very thankfull for the support provided by CF M777.
If anybody read the story of the FOO in a-stan from last summer (One of ours) apparently the brit paras or the royal marines were very thankfull for the support provided by CF M777.
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Moderator Edit/Merge:
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The Army.ca Staff
I have edited this topic in the hopes that more people "find it" during their search for it before posting to a new thread. I have also merged the two threads with comments regarding the article into this one.
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The Army.ca Staff
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Perhaps a minor detail for those not in the Airborne, but the Regiment was not disbanded "in disgrace." The wording was chosen carefully and the distinction was made very clear to us at the time.BattleHawk said:
I have absolutely no guilt or shame about my time served in the Airborne Regiment.
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Journeyman said:
He meant to say "disgracefully disbanded".
I also have absolutely no guilt or shame about my time served in the Airborne Regiment.
Roy
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