The Canadian government has declared today as the “National Day of Honour” to commemorate the end of the Canadian presence in Afghanistan and to honour the military personnel who served, and those who died..
With a 12 year presence in that country, it was the longest Canadian involvement in war with 40,000 tours of duty by service personnel during that time. It also cost 158 Canadian lives.
The Afghan Memorial Vigil shown here on display at national Defence HQ, is currently located in the Hall of Honour in the Centre block of the Parliament buildings. (photo Canadian Forces) Click to ENLARGE
There will be ceremonies held across the country, with the main event in the national capital, Ottawa, with a parade of several hundred military personnel from the war museum about one kilometer to Parliament hill. There will also be a 21-gun salute, and flypasts of military aircraft, before and after two minutes of silence.
A team of injured veterans will also arrive on Parliament Hill on Friday at the end of a trek from Canadian Forces Base Trenton. Members of the “Soldier On” relay members have been carrying a specially constructed baton that holds the last Canadian flag to fly at ISAF Headquarters in Kabul. It will be presented first to the last Canadian commander of the mission, Major-General Dean Milner, and then to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The Afghan Memorial Vigil will also be on display within the hall of Honour located in the central tower of Victory and Peace of the Parliament buildings. The black granite plaques feature the faces of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan, some grouped together. In all, there are 190 plaques representing 201 fallen: 158 Canadian Armed Forces’ members, one Canadian diplomat, one Canadian civilian contractor, one Canadian journalist and 40 U.S. Armed Forces members who were under Canadian command.
Not without some criticism and controversy
This one-time event National Day of Honour has not been without controversy however,
The Royal Canadian Legion- a national veteran’s service organization- says the government should have given them more than one month’s notice to organize events at the multitude of Legion branches across the country, adding that many past and present military personnel were angered at the uneccesary short notice, feel slighted, and will not attend .
Families of killed soldiers from across the country were invited to the main ceremonies but then told they would have to pay their own airfare and hotels. Another charitable group-True Patriot Love- has since come forward to pay their expenses enabling them to attend.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.