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Statement by the Prime Minister for Remembrance Day
“I was privileged this past spring to travel to France for ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of D-Day."
November 10, 2004
Ottawa, Ontario
“I was privileged this past spring to travel to France for ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of D-Day. I watched as veterans stepped again on the sands of the Normandy coast and stared out into the waters, which six decades before had held so many Allied warships that, in the words of one solider, it was as though you could jump from one to another, right across the English Channel. I stood and talked with veterans at the Canadian War Cemetery at Beny-sur-Mer, a place of great beauty and a poignant shrine to valour and sacrifice.
Click to view the slide show.
Many of the fortifications along the beaches of Normandy are now sinking into the sand. Overtime, there will be fewer veterans to tell of their exploits and their heroes. It falls to us therefore, to the Canadians of now and tomorrow, to ensure the remembrance of those who sacrificed. It falls to us to keep an eternal vigil to the memory of their selflessness and their courage. We must never forget those who fought for Canada. We must cherish the freedoms that so many died to protect.
As we observe two minutes of silence each of us will reflect in our own way – perhaps thinking of a husband or sister, a friend or family member that never returned home, perhaps praying for the safety of a soldier and loved one currently deployed overseas. We are fortunate as Canadians. We enjoy many blessings. Let us always remember the cost, and those who paid it.”
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