As if any war is something to be 'proud' of. Anyway, here's buddys' opinion:
Modern Canada was born on the bloodied field of battle of Vimy Ridge. Your high school history teacher told you that. Our current military-happy federal government repeats it often enough. The Governor-General recited the accepted wisdom to a crowd of thousands just this past Monday at the Vimy memorial, where he described the battle as a “very defining” moment in Canadian history.
The tropes are well known to Vimy devotes. Over four days in April in 1917, Canadian soldiers accomplished through planning, guts and guile what 150,000 dead French and British soldiers had failed to achieve: The capture of seven kilometres of land rising up to a ridge held by the Germans. It was the first time all four divisions of the Canadian Corps had fought together — 3,598 Canadians lay dead; 7,000 were wounded.
But is Vimy really the best of Canada? Does our modern identity and national purpose hinge on the harrowing slaughter of our citizens on a foreign field of mud in a pointless war?
more
John Moore: The First World War is nothing to be proud of | Full Comment | National Post
Modern Canada was born on the bloodied field of battle of Vimy Ridge. Your high school history teacher told you that. Our current military-happy federal government repeats it often enough. The Governor-General recited the accepted wisdom to a crowd of thousands just this past Monday at the Vimy memorial, where he described the battle as a “very defining” moment in Canadian history.
The tropes are well known to Vimy devotes. Over four days in April in 1917, Canadian soldiers accomplished through planning, guts and guile what 150,000 dead French and British soldiers had failed to achieve: The capture of seven kilometres of land rising up to a ridge held by the Germans. It was the first time all four divisions of the Canadian Corps had fought together — 3,598 Canadians lay dead; 7,000 were wounded.
But is Vimy really the best of Canada? Does our modern identity and national purpose hinge on the harrowing slaughter of our citizens on a foreign field of mud in a pointless war?
more
John Moore: The First World War is nothing to be proud of | Full Comment | National Post