Directives to military chaplains urge expunging God, religion from Remembrance Day, public ceremonies

[PMedMoe]

At the services in Kingston, at least at City Park and MacDonald Park, they lay the wreaths before the service. I'll be at City Park by 1045, when the actual service starts.

 

[rmc_wannabe]

At the services in Kingston, at least at City Park and MacDonald Park, they lay the wreaths before the service. I'll be at City Park by 1045, when the actual service starts.

This is also why I go to Barriefield myself.

 

[Good2Golf]

This is also why I go to Barriefield myself.

It’s a double-edged sword. I found the continuous stream of X and Y businesses laying a wreath was inappropriate. Pre-lay them and leave only a small number of governmental and appropriate institutional contributions, not any company with a pulse..

 

[Eaglelord17]

Your all forgetting that usually these aren’t government run events, the Legion tends to be the ones managing it. To the Legion those wreaths represent cash in their wallet.

Thats not to say they are all like that, the smaller the ceremony the better I have found, but at the end of the day the legion is the one in control and they use remembrance day as their source of income for the year.

 

[quadrapiper]

It’s a double-edged sword. I found the continuous stream of X and Y businesses laying a wreath was inappropriate. Pre-lay them and leave only a small number of governmental and appropriate institutional contributions, not any company with a pulse..

The ones around here seem to trend to only naming the various governments, uniformed services, service clubs, and youth groups, with a certain degree of bundling where appropriate (Dominion government... Provincial government... Municipal governments...), and "anyone else who wishes to lay a wreath" which gets everything from purchased Legion wreaths to relative's shadowboxes perched on the cenotaph for a while. It still feels like it goes on forever, but I've yet to hear "Bob's Hardware" get acknowledged.

 

[daftandbarmy]

It’s a double-edged sword. I found the continuous stream of X and Y businesses laying a wreath was inappropriate. Pre-lay them and leave only a small number of governmental and appropriate institutional contributions, not any company with a pulse..

The ceremony at the Cenotaph in Vancouver is so excruciatingly long, and deeply political on various levels, that it defines the term 'abuse of troops' IMHO.

 

[Kirkhill]

The ceremony at the Cenotaph in Vancouver is so excruciatingly long, and deeply political on various levels, that it defines the term 'abuse of troops' IMHO.

So you don't want to engage the citizenry?

It may be excruciating but once a year people go out of their way to show their appreciation.

 

[lenaitch]

So you don't want to engage the citizenry?

It may be excruciating but once a year people go out of their way to show their appreciation.

It is, but that part of the double-edged sword argument. It seems many communities and their Legion branches have faced the same dilemma and some have taken longer to find a way to deal with it. The small city ceremony we used to attend was outside, in Ontario, in November, in the shade. I used to watch WWII vets standing there, obviously freezing, while the slow parade of Bob's Auto Body et al laid their wreaths.

In our new area, the main ceremony is indoor but, being a larger community, apparently had more body shops et al with wreaths. We are told the final straw was a wreath from a strip joint.

It's great that the service clubs and businesses want to participate, but they should be doing it because it's the right thing to do, not as marketing.

 

[Booter]

Any kit buffs able to tell me these are Canadian soldiers?

 

[Furniture]

View attachment 81170

Any kit buffs able to tell me these are Canadian soldiers?

Some poor "Ad guy" got told to throw something together last minute, and likely googled "WWII soldiers" then looked no further.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Bet their inbox was pretty full on Nov 8.

 

[Booter]

I mean their loss did contribute….

 

[OldSolduer]

View attachment 81170

Any kit buffs able to tell me these are Canadian soldiers?

Definitely NOT Canadian or even Allied. It’s a sorry fucking state of affairs isn’t it?

 

[Blackadder1916]

View attachment 81170

Any kit buffs able to tell me these are Canadian soldiers?

Yaroslav Hunka has entered the chat.

 

[kkwd]

Here is the source for the photo. One question, what does the phrase "relative peace" mean?
Photo Link

 

[gryphonv]

Definitely NOT Canadian or even Allied. It’s a sorry fucking state of affairs isn’t it?

I seem to recall a similar thing happening last year or somewhat recently where a Government Ad, used video of german soldiers thinking it was allies as a remembrance day ad.

Ah, just looked it up. It was VE Day,

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/veterans-affairs-nazis-video-ve-day-1.5130515

 

[Furniture]

I seem to recall a similar thing happening last year or somewhat recently where a Government Ad, used video of german soldiers thinking it was allies as a remembrance day ad.

Ah, just looked it up. It was VE Day,

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/veterans-affairs-nazis-video-ve-day-1.5130515

The average Canadian couldn't pick a modern Canadian military member out of a line-up, so dumb stuff like this is going to happen.

Back in 2005 I got stopped at a Starbucks in Bayer's Lake by a guy who wanted to thank me for being a peacekeeper... I was just buying a latte in CADPAT with an air force beret. I tried to explain that it was the wrong blue, and I was just a weather guy heading in to the office for a 12 hour shift... His eyes glazed over and he walked off.

He just wanted to feel good about himself, not understand anything.

 

[RangerRay]

View attachment 81170

Any kit buffs able to tell me these are Canadian soldiers?

Oh dear…

 

[ModlrMike]

I think we have eight wreaths being laid today. GOC, three services, two foreign forces, veterans affairs, and one all veterans. We invite others to lay wreaths etc after the official service. Speeches are limited in length, and the ecclesiastical portion is just what is necessary. Total time, about one hour.

 

[Retired AF Guy]

In our new area, the main ceremony is indoor but, being a larger community, apparently had more body shops et al with wreaths. We are told the final straw was a wreath from a strip joint.

So strippers can't be patriotic??