Vimy Ridge Day today
- Thread starter james t kirk
- Start date
Thanks for reminding us, today was the first day of the Battle.
By the way considering the number of 'Canadians' who fought in the war today is the 150th anniversary of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House.
By the way considering the number of 'Canadians' who fought in the war today is the 150th anniversary of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House.
My great grandpa was on Vimy Ridge as a stretcher bearer. We have his journal. It goes from pretty cheerful to super bleak once Vimy hits. His buddy dies in the battle and then he takes some shrapnel in the back, which took him out of the war for good.
I don't know what your intentions are, mr. Kirk (and I am not saying they are not honourable) but anything that glorifies war is wrong, in my opinion. I was at Çanakkale myself this January, and the only thing that came into my mind was sadness for all the young people who died for the ambitions and vanity of leaders. I would be happier if all these monuments were torn down and the places used for holiday houses.
Those heroes who shed their blood and lost their lives, you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side in this country of ours. You, the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears, your sons are now lying in our bosoms and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they become our sons as well.
Those heroes who shed their blood and lost their lives, you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side in this country of ours. You, the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears, your sons are now lying in our bosoms and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they become our sons as well.
I would never interpret something like this as glorifying war, I interpret it as honouring the people who threw themselves in to the face of death because their governments can't get along. None of them deserved their fates, so we honour them.
Yup I'm not surprised that you didn't grasp that the goal of attempting to open the Dardanelles and the Bosporus was to ease the Russian supply situation.
Yes the Gallipoli Campaign was a horrible failure, but that doesn't mean that it was due to the vanity of those who planned it.
Also as to modern day Turkey, you don't seem to have a good bead on the philosophy of the AKP.
What I have grasped (and what you are unable to comprehend) is that all wars are immoral, i.e. caused by ambitions and vanity by leaders, who are seducing young people to go and kill other young people for false and idiotic reasons. If you are unable to understand that the first world war was fought for vanity and idiotic ambitions of stupid and immoral leaders, and that the sacrifice of all dead and maimed soldiers and civilians during that war was futile and misguided, there is not much hope for you.
The best we could do would be to forget the whole thing, dismantle the monuments and build vacation houses for the living.
The 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli is on April 25.
Rusty's film The Water Diviner will be released in North America the day before.
Rusty's film The Water Diviner will be released in North America the day before.
What a terrible thing to think... Those memorials, and every other vestige of war, are there precisely to remind us. Why not tear down the concentration camps as well? They are also reminders of the horrific.
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Some people do that, but other people revel in the wars and cannot wait for the glory of the next one. I can think of more than one of the latter kind here on Terb.
^ War is far from simplistic. Is it bloody and horrific taking the lives of countless people before their time absolutely! Is it always pointless - absolutely not! Is it for many well adjusted, kind and loving people the most dynamic meaningful point in their lives - studies of numerous British, U.S. and Canadian veterans would indicate that it is.
Anyone who knows anything about war memorials knows that the Vimy memorial is not a memorial to war, or a memorial of victory, it is a memorial about the loss of war and the desire for peace above all.
For example,
"Canada Bereft", often times just called "Mother of Canada". Look closely and you will see that there is sorrow in her face. She is young. Canada was just a nation barely 50 years old at the time of Vimy. She is the young mother and her sons have been taken from her and you can see the sorrow in her eyes. Eyes that are cast downward looking upon the tomb of the unknown soldier. Her son, someone's son. She stands vigil over him and all those like him so that they will never be alone, never be forgotten. In her hand is the laurel, not a sword. She does not want any more loss of anyone's sons to war.
For example,
"Canada Bereft", often times just called "Mother of Canada". Look closely and you will see that there is sorrow in her face. She is young. Canada was just a nation barely 50 years old at the time of Vimy. She is the young mother and her sons have been taken from her and you can see the sorrow in her eyes. Eyes that are cast downward looking upon the tomb of the unknown soldier. Her son, someone's son. She stands vigil over him and all those like him so that they will never be alone, never be forgotten. In her hand is the laurel, not a sword. She does not want any more loss of anyone's sons to war.
"Sympathy of the Canadians for the helpless"
Again, no swords, no guns, but Canada will give aid and comfort to the weak as symbolized by the Canadian figure offering water to the thirsty and protection to the helpless. We as a nation are not militaristic, but we will come to the aid of the downtrodden and the dispossessed.
The truth hurts?
Danish and Dutch may both begin with the letter D in English but boy isn't there a world of difference. No one is ever going to make the Danish version of Soldaat van Oranje
The breaking of the sword.
It's meaning should be obvious. The need was to end war and the breaking of the sword defines the objective of peace. We do not want or need swords. It is not the enemy which must be broken, it is the sword. Note how the two figures on the right look to heaven while the third figure breaks the sword so that it can no longer be used. Note also the canon top right is draped with laurel.
The spirit of sacrifice. Again, the lead statue's foot is planted firmly on the sword symbolizing the putting down of the sword, not the glorification of the battle. The torch is passed from the dying figure to the living figure so that we might not forget
Likewise the Menin Gate in Ypres where the names of over six thousand Canadians are listed
Encountered the momument by accident in the 1970s, travelling south though France from the Channel, and sleeping rough. We walked into the woods in the dusk and pitched a tent, and then awakened in the morning to signs warning of unexploded munitions and the magnificent Memorial looming above us. France legally gave the hill on which it stands to Canadians to use for all time, so great was their gratitude to our countrymen. To say it glorifieswar and should be ignored is to deny hiatory qnd its lessons. There was a war. Our country fought in it. Many dies but in theend they prevailed. There is something there to learn. I found it fascinating and we spend our first morning in France climbing through the trenches. It was a view of war that highschool history had not imparted to me.
