Ottawa residents, dignitaries and military members gathered at the Cartier Drill Hall to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday.
A Grade 4 class from Gatineau’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau Elementary School was also in attendance, getting a lesson in history that’s also interwoven into the fabric of their past.
“We have a lot of the students who have grandparents who were in the war and a lot of what they experience now, a lot of the luxuries that they may have in life, is because of the people who have given up so much for us,” said teacher Rick Patricio.
People like Patricia Poole’s father who landed in Europe 20 days after D-Day. He was loaned to the British Army as part of a volunteer program during the war.
“Dad talked about it quite a bit,” said Poole. “It’s sometimes hard to get vets to relive it and he told us about how difficult it was and about losing friends.”
It was the largest naval, air and land operation the world had ever seen. The entire operation would last 77 days and would come at an enormous cost, with more than 5,000 Canadian casualties.
“The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa, which is my unit, we were the only Ottawa-based regiment at the landings on D-Day. We had some resilient, unbelievable, normal human beings who did extraordinary things,” said M. Cpl. Afton David.
As memories fade into history, the service was a promise to never forget.
“It’s easy to take it all for granted and not to recognize that we do have to take a stand every so often if we want to keep peace and freedom,” said Larry Murray, Dominion Grand President.