We Will Remember Them

I just got home from downtown where Canada Day festivities are in full swing. We normally don't join the masses until about now but today was special. The government of Canada had a service at the war memorial (in the middle of downtown) to commemorate the soldiers who died at the Battle of the Somme and Beaumont-Hamel in 1916.

In Newfoundland, July 1 was always Memorial Day. We wore artificial forget-me-nots in our lapels and went to the cenotaph for a service. I remember somber music on the radio and there was never much reason for gaiety. Once Newfoundland joined Canada (in 1949) it also became Dominion Day¹ for that was the day that the Articles of Confederation were signed in Charlottetown, P.E.I. in 1867 forming the original nation of Canada.

And so for us, July 1 had a dual purpose. Remember the dead. Celebrate with the living. Not a problem for most Newfoundlanders. We never forget when someone does something for us and we're up to celebrate most anything.

Today marks the first time that the valour of our Royal Newfoundland Regiment has been commemorated anywhere else in Canada besides Newfoundland. It is the first time that anyone but Newfoundlanders have publicly remembered that on this same day in 1916, only 69 of 801 soldiers answered roll call when the battle was over.

It felt good, so very good to stand there and sing the Ode to Newfoundland on Ottawa soil. I feel like finally we're part of the Canadian fabric in a way that we have never been before. Needless to say, I was a blubbering mess long before a young soldier read the Act of Remembrance.

They shall grow not old,
as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them,
nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun
and in the morning
We will remember them.

RESPONSE: We will remember them

Newfoundlanders in the crowd were visible by the Newfoundland flags they carried, the Newfoundland tartan ties around their necks, or simply by the radiance of their teary smiles.

I met my babysitter. She used to wheel me in my baby carriage around the harbour of Brigus when she was about 9, as near as we can figure. She told me she'd have recognized me anywhere.

What a morning! What a glorious day.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
¹Dominion Day was officially renamed "Canada Day" by an Act of Parliament on October 27, 1982 after the BNA Act (Canada's Constitution)was repatriated by Pierre Trudeau.

---