D-Day: 65 Years Later

Posted by Laura Steiner Jun 6, 2009

It's nothing to do with politics, or what's going on with the latest scandal in Ottawa or Queens Park (Toronto), but it is current events and an occasion that should be recognized. It was 65 years ago today that Canadian troops together with their allies stormed the beaches at Normandy France, spelling the beginning of the end for Hitler's Third Reich. Canadian troops gained the most ground that day, and proceeded to fight all the way to the Rhine over a year later.

But it's not just events of the one day that should be celebrated. It is the fact that Canada made a huge contribution to the war efforts that should be celebrated- one history largely ignores. The Canadian soldiers who fought on the beaches were volunteer; all chose to leave their lives, and loved ones to serve King & Country. Canada served as a training ground for allied pilots, escorts for supply convoys, and refuge for many. We finished World War II with the fourth largest navy, and had one of the largest armies- no mean feats consider there were only 11 million of us.

I know we prefer to think of ourselves as peacekeepers who go in and help rebuild war-torn countries. And that's a good reputation to have, it means everyone likes us. While enjoying that reputation we forget that before Canadians were peacekeepers, we were warriors. We fought on the beaches at Normandy, and before that in the muddy trenches of World War I. We did the unexpected like taking Vimy in World War I, and liberating Holland in World War II. It is all of this that should be remembered.

Vetrans of the Second World War are aging, and there are fewer every year. We shouldn't let the memories of June 6th fade, and die out with them. We should teach our children of the sacrafices made during World War II, and on June 6, 1944. We should tell them that besides being peacekeepers, Canadians are warriors.