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Micheline's Blog

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Micheline's Blog

Tag Archives: Veterans

Veterans Honoured: a Moment of Grace

10 Tuesday Nov 2015

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, France, Légion d'honneur

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

France, Légion d'honneur, Roland Moisan, Sherbrooke, Veterans, World War II

df924e25-b01b-495f-b6e7-c084bc8a7086_profile

Poppies by Sarah Hair Olson (Photo: youcaring.com)

Veterans honoured in Sherbrooke

http://ici.radio-canada.ca/regions/estrie/2015/11/09/001-anciens-combattants-legion-d-honneur-sherbrooke-deuxieme-guerre-mondiale.shtml?isAutoPlay=1

http://ici.radio-canada.ca/sujet/legion-d-honneur-2015-quebec

Roland Moisan

Roland Moisan

Yesterday, my uncle Roland Moisan, now more than 92 years old, a veteran who survived D-Day, received the Légion d’honneur, France’s highest award, for his role during World War II.

My uncle was a volunteer who left for Europe in 1941. It was a long trip: three weeks. The ships had to avoid German submarines. When they got to Liverpool, bombs were falling.

The day my uncle and fellow soldiers left England, they did not know what duty had been assigned to them. The débarquement, D-Day, had to be a secret. The soldiers loaded what they were told to load unto boats and it turned out their destination was Normandy.

I visited all the beaches and cliffs of the débarquement. How did they survive? My uncle says that those who should be decorated are his fallen comrades. He was then tall, strong, nimble and the soldiers had been well-trained.

There was no disorder, but they were in hell. Men were falling. It must have been horrible to see comrades killed. When this happens, one must wonder why one is spared death.

A Moment of Grace

As the soldiers who had survived travelled north, towards Germany, my uncle was transporting young prisoners of war. Two of them got ahold of him and lowered his head. He lost his rifle. If these prisoners had not lowered my uncle’s head, it would have been severed by a wire. They had saved his life. One of the prisoners then picked up the fallen rifle and returned it to my uncle, smiling.

These soldiers were the innocent victims of Adolf Hitler and his Nazis. That’s what they were, and so was my uncle. Roland Moisan says he will never forget that one moment. It was a moment of grace.

Poppy Field

df924e25-b01b-495f-b6e7-c084bc8a7086_profile© Micheline Walker
9 November 2015
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“Lest We Forget” & the News, 11 November 2012

11 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, Sharing

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Giovanni Antonini, Le Monde, Lest We Forget, President Obama, The New York Times, Treaty of Versailles, Veterans, WordPress

Poppies, by A. J. Casson (1919-1920) 
A. J. Casson (Group of Seven):  (May 17, 1898 – February 20, 1992)
Photo credit: The National Gallery of Canada
 

The Veterans

It is November 11th.  Many of us lost dear ones to a battle fought during WW I and WW II.  My grandfather lost his brother.  One of my uncles “survived” D-Day, but he was sick for years.  The Canadian government provided him with the little house he still lives in.  I believe that for him, that house is like a security blanket.  He does not know how he survived.  I may have told you that I visited all the D-Day beaches with another survivor.  We also have dear ones who died in Vietnam, in the Middle-East and elsewhere.

Somehow WW II is the one war I find particularly atrocious.  Hitler is responsible for the death of 6 million Jews.  But Hitler was also a dictator who harmed the people of Germany using the war reparations imposed on Germany under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles (28 June 1919).  Fortunately, this mistake was carefully avoided after WW II.

I am pleased to see that President Obama is looking after the veterans of wars fought in the wake of 9/11, as if these brutal attacks had not made enough victims.  I am also pleased that President Obama was re-elected.  He did not have the funds Mr Romney could use, but he went to the people and there were last-minute endorsements from influential sources.

Gratitude

I wish to thank my WordPress colleagues and followers who clicked the “I like” button and those who did not.  It was magical.  A little compassion goes a very long way.  You were very helpful.  If you are the victim of fraud, I will be there for you and will not suspect carelessness on your part.  We all experience difficulties we keep to ourselves because we consider these personal.  However, fraud is an exception.  One tells so others are warned.  The advice I gave you is advice that was given to me.

The News

The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/
The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Le Monde diplomatique: http://mondediplo.com/ EN
CNN News: http://www.cnn.com/
The Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
The Montreal Gazette: http://www.montrealgazette.com/index.html 
 
CBC News: http://www.cbc.ca/news/
CTV News: http://www.ctvnews.ca/
 
Le Monde: http://www.lemonde.fr/
Le Monde diplomatique: http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/
Le Devoir: http://www.ledevoir.com/
La Presse: http://www.lapresse.ca/
 
Die Welt: http://www.welt.de/
 
_________________________
 
composer: Henry Purcell (10 September 1659 – 21 November 1695)
piece: Chaconne in G minor from Fantasies and In Nomines (1680) (Z 730)
performers:  Il Giardino Armonico
Alessandro Tampieri,
Enrico Onofri,
Giovanni Antonini,
Marco Bianchi,
Riccardo Doni.
 
 
Micheline Walker©
November 11th, 2012
WordPress

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