Heroes

After leaving Bruges I headed to Brussels where I was to spend 1 night. While Brussels seemed like a nice city, I was glad I wasn't going to be there for a long time as nothing about the city really stood out to me.

I was particularly anxious to go to France, but not for the traditional reasons. I was travelling by train to Paris, and while most people would love to be in my shoes and spend 4 nights in "la ville d'amour," I never really had a great deal of interest in the place.

When I did get to Paris I was surprised at how beautiful the city actually was. Many times with big cities like Paris they can tend to become run down. The buildings, streets and cafes were very lovely though, and there was a great deal to see. I was however, headed to Normandy on Saturday, and was very glad to leave Paris due to the influx of tourists. The one disappointent I did have was the city seemed to lose some of its character. All I heard around me were English speakers, even in the shops when I tried to speak French the shopkeepers would respond in English.

There was another reason I was leaving for Normandy. I had booked a D-Day tour there to visit Juno Beach, the site of the Canadian landing on June 6th, 1944, the start of the turnaround for the Allied countries during World War II. It had always been a hope of mine to visit the beach not to glorify Canada and the war, but to pay my respects to the soldiers who so unselfishly sacrficed their lives to save countless others.

On the train ride up to Normandy I had a couple hours to reflect on whatI might see. What would the beach look like? What were the soldiers thinking on that day when they were on their way to the beach? What feelings would I experience when I got there? And most importantly, would I learn something about the war by going there? These were just a few of the questions I asked myself on the way up.

I arrived in Bayeaux and my guide picked me and the others up around 1 pm. We quickly drove through the town, which was lovely, and drove straight to the beach. The drive took about 20 minutes in total, a fair distance from town. As we approached there were many Canadian flags flying, a sight that would repeat itself throughout the area.

We got out of the van and walked to the beach. As we walked to the beach our guide explained Canada's role on that day. She said that when the Canadians approached all anyone could see was a row of black getting bigger on the ocean. She said that the Canadians suffered the 2nd highest number of casualties on that day, behind the Americans on Omaha Beach, but that they were the most successful group. They were the only country to achieve their mission for the day (they had to liberate Caen Airport, which they did) and liberated more land than any other country on the day. In total they marched 20 km inland, the farthest of any nation.

Once we got to the beach we saw what the REAL Normandy coast looked like. It looked like just a normal beach obviously, and there were people swimming, playing and suntanning. But as you walked around you couldn't help but experience a great number of emotions. I couldn't help but imagine putting myself in a soldier's shoes on that day. Wondering if they would survive the day to see their family, maybe their girl waiting for them at home. Many of them would never get to have another Christmas, or see their kids grow up, go up to Muskoka (or something like it), see another hockey game, or even just see Canada again.

After walking down the beach we walked to the Juno Beach Centre to see the museum dedicated to Canada's role in the war. It was very well put together, with some really interesting exhibits, but there was one that really stood out to me. I stood and watched a video with a number of veterans explaining their views on the war. All of them gave interesting takes on the war. One in particular stood out though. This gentleman who bravely served remarked that the Canadians who served in the war were "not heroes, but just doing their job." He said that the soldiers were "highly trained and served because it was the thing to do at the time." He didn't want to be called a hero. I won't lie, it was pretty tough to not get at least a little bit emotional watching this hero (because despite what he said thats what he was) be so humble about what they accomplished.

After watching the video we left to see the first house liberated by the Canadians in France, and what was likely the first house liberated by any army on D-Day. We then drove to the Canadian cemetary, where over 2000 Canadian soldiers were buried. It looked just like in the movies. There were rows and rows of white gravestones, one after another. I walked down the rows and read the names out loud to myself, and read the messages left by family and loved ones. Anderson, Johnson, Bates, Gosselin, just a few that I saw. It must've been so hard for the families to lose them so young. So sad and so tragic, yet they were heroes, every single one of them, and at the very least they did not die in vain. Their families likely took solice in that, and for that I was at least a little bit grateful for them.

Finally we headed down another road the Canadians liberated to a site where 8 Canadians had been held prisoner and slaghtered by SS guards for no particular reason other than the fact that they felt like killing them. Another example of how brutal war can be. There were even bullet holes in some of the walls still. Poppies were placed everywhere throughout the site. What really made the site humbling though, were the pictures of all the soldiers killed there, placed on the wall. I stood there and stared at the pictures of these soldiers. Some of them looked so happy when it was taken. All of them were in their army hats and uniforms. I wondered if they knew how brutal it would be. Surely they did not know they would die like this.

After leaving the site our guide dropped us off in the centre of town and I walked to the train station soon after. On the train I had a couple hours to think about what I saw. I thought about how horrible war is, how we should do as much as we can to avoid it. I thought about how I hope I, nor any of my loved ones, has to go off to war. I thought about how lucky we are we live in Canada, how war is a part of everyday life for some people in countries like Sudan or the Congo, Iraq or Afghanistan. How Zimbabwe is headed that way because of some idiot running the country, and for what?

I also thought about the fact that sometimes war is unavoidable. Sometimes we need to stand up to fight together and the Allied soldiers in World War II, Canadian, British, American, Australian, Indian, French (just to name a few) did so and likely saved countless Jews, Gypsies, Poles, Serbs, homosexuals, cripples and many other so-called unwanteds branded by Hitler. But many people died in the process.

So I would like to take the time for anyone reading this to salute and graciously thank not just the 1 million Canadians who served in the war, but the millions and millions of others who served in the war to fight for justice, good and most of all peace. You surely did not die in vain, and you will never, ever be forgotten.

After arriving back in Paris I did some sightseeing for the next few days. I went to Versailles, the Eiffel Tower, saw the Notre Dame Cathedral, and saw a few other sites throughout the city. It was very pretty but it had nowhere near the same impact that my trip up to Normandy had. Paris was definitely worth visiting, but my trip up to Normandy will never be forgotten.

To the heroes of the war. All 1 million of you. Thank You.