SIGNS OF THE TIMES

By Barry Stagg

June 1994

JUNE 6, 1944

Tommy Anderson had his legs blown off in the Balkans. This Canadian soldier comes from Cape Ray, Newfoundland. His terrible wounding took place a few weeks ago while he was carrying out his duties as a Canadian peace keeper in what is left of that perpetual turmoil formerly known as Yugoslavia.

While Tommy Anderson recovers from his terrible wounds on June 6, 1994, Canadians will be commemorating the 50th anniversary of D-Day.

It was on June 6, 1944 when the Allied troops came ashore on the beaches of Normandy to begin the final phase of the process of retaking, first, France and then the rest of Europe from the terrible genocidal rule of Adolf Hitler and his murderous fascists.

The men who came ashore that day are old and few now. The war and the ravages of time have reduced their numbers and in many ways have reduced the appreciation that Canada and the countries that they freed show to these men.

This writer, writing on this day, fifty years after the event extends his heart-felt and sincerest congratulations and thanks both to those who are left to remember this day and to those who fell on the long journey.

History gets buried too often these days. Too many of my fellow forty year olds know way too much about trivia and not enough about history.

By remembering and giving salute to the veterans of World War II, we pay tribute to them as living history at a time when it is so important that we recognize these people as legitimate living heroes.

With military budgets taking a beating from government and from the professional pacifists, it is vital that the ordinary citizens of Canada recognize that the military and the actual use of deadly force during World War II set the foundation for the democratic country that we now enjoy. Many would have you believe that soldiers are all alike and that there is no good cause when warfare is involved. The soldiers who fought their way off the beaches of France on through to Berlin represent both living and dead testimonials to the fact that there are wars that must be fought for the preservation of human decency.

It is important that any tributes to the soldiers and surviving veterans of World War II not be limited to just a lot of supposedly profound phrases that salute soldiers in general. It is even more important to salute the actual soldiers who fought, those who fell and those who carry on. From my own platform, growing up in Boswarlos, I remember the Companion brothers. Arch Companion fought as an artillery soldier throughout Europe. I remember his late brother, Harold Companion who was a staunch and fierce supporter of the Royal Canadian Legion in Stephenville for many years. The late Harold Companion, loyal soldier, was a familiar sentry at the Cenotaph in Stephenville.

I remember my aunt, Olive Ledgerwood, who became a WAAC. She carries on in Toronto after a full career with the Toronto Dominion Bank. She came out of Shambler's Cove, Bonavista Bay to do her part in keeping the great engine of the war effort running.

June 6, 1994 marks fifty years of progress from the blood and killing of beaches like Juno Beach and Omaha Beach in Normandy. There won't be another anniversary like this one again in the lifetimes of these veterans. Too little use is made of the memories and of the lessons that they have to give to the post war generation.

I welcome any comments and any contributions from any veterans of World War II. Contact me at the Downhomer and I will see to it that your thoughts and memories are put to paper. We will make a permanent record of the dangerous journeys that you all undertook in the dark days of the battle against Hitler's murderers. Whether you fought on the ground in Europe or as part of the merchant marine during the battle of the Atlantic, your story is important to me and I consider it high time that the stories of the ordinary soldiers, both on the ground, at sea and in the air are told and recorded for the history that these memories and stories actually are.

On June 6, 1994 we salute the veterans of World War II and their fallen comrades. At the same time we extend our salutes and our thanks to the present day Canadian Forces and the bloodied but courageous veterans like Cape Ray's Tommy Anderson.


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