It is not possible to thank our veterans enough. This former Dutchman is always reminded on Nov. 11 that it was mostly Canadians who liberated Holland.
I was born after the Second World War so there is no personal recollection of this conflict. My parents saw the food drops from airplanes and the terrible fighting around Nijmegen. They saw people taken at random off the street, stood against a wall and shot. A man who landed in Normandy on day-plus-three was a gunner’s mate in the Canadian Forces. He never became famous, was interviewed by the media or even marched in Remembrance Day parades. He came home in 1945 and became the father of my future wife. May he now rest in peace.
It is therefore with great trepidation that I need to disagree with the sentiments expressed at the end of the article about Ethel Northcut as well as the last line in Ray Lewis’ article. The father of a friend of mine was a pilot instructor and was stationed for a while at Pearce airport, Alberta. The outline of this training base can still be seen on Google Earth. He never thought that “nobody wins a war” or “war does not decide anything.” My parents, in fact most Dutch people, will totally disagree with that sentiment. They were the beneficiaries of the Canadian and Allied sacrifices. The terrible cost exacted by a brutal regime made the war necessary and just. The Allies won that war and it did decide the freedom of current and future millions of people. Therefore, with all due respect and thanks to all whom served, no corporation ever started a war, power hungry politicians and megalomaniacs do.
I agree, the youth of today should be learning about the First and Second World War, the Korean War and the Canadians killed during peacekeeping operations around the world. Anybody remember Cyprus and the Canadians killed there? Their families do. The teachers of today do not because very few were taught themselves to know about these conflicts.
Joe Prins, St. Albert
