A nation was forever changed on a day in June

If you have watched any of the televised remberances of D-day over the last few days, the one thing that stands out is just how young those that landed on Juno beach were. There were thousands of them sitting near the shore onboard bouncing landing craft, waiting offshore on naval vessels or scrambling up unforgiving beachfronts. June 6, 1944 saw Canada send its bravest off to face unimaginable horror, no amount of training could ever have prepared them for the pure evil they faced. Their exploits are forever trapped in the sand of a Normandy beach, bought and paid for with the lives of the best we had to offer.

Many Canadians were lost on that day and the days to follow at Juno beach, German guns delivered death and injury to hundreds and thousands struggling to hold a small corner of the world for freedom. Far too often we take for granted what we have today; not realizing the cost of its preservation was the sacrifice of the best of a generation. From every province they went, not knowing if they would return. For far too many the simple fact was they would not.

One of history’s greatest military achievements would take place on the beaches of Normandy, an invasion force of thousands, wave after wave of small boats landing scared fighters unsure of what they were to face. Blood would wash the shores of the five beaches stormed by the Allies. Canadian, British, American and other citizens of the world would be cut down in merciless fashion. Yet they kept coming ashore, slowly gaining ground inch by bloody inch, foot by gruesome foot, yard by costly yard. It would take many days, and many deaths but they would soon have pushed the German lines back and once they had the German army moving, they never would look back. The memory of fallen comrades was the incentive to keep pushing on, not surrendering any of the hard won territory.

60 years ago the battle to free Europe from the grip of totalitarianism commenced, many of those that answered the call have long since gone on to their reward. The ones that remain dwindle year by year. We take time to think of their exploits and salute their beliefs.

Canada has had many great moments and many sad ones in both world wars, we slipped the ties of colony through the sacrifice of our young. We stepped out on the world stage as an equal at the cost of far too many lives. Yet we are what we are today, because of the heroic feats of those we sent to do our bidding.

We like to think of ourselves as a peaceful nation, one willing to find common ground to solve the problems facing a troubled world. We’ve been held up as the world’s fixer nation, its honest broker the shining light for others to follow. We should never forget though, that we have been given that place of honour in the world, due to the sacrifices in battle of years gone by. When the need came for Canadians to take up the call of arms, we did not shirk our responsibility. Freedom comes at a cost and on June 6, 1944, Canada paid its dues in full.

Take some time to watch the coverage of the events in France, listen to the stories, hear the sadness and the pride in the tales recounted. We live in different times now, yet all that we have and celebrate as a nation, are due to the events on a stretch of beach called Juno, on a day in June, sixty years ago. For that we should be eternally thankful and should never forget.