OTTAWA, ON, Nov. 11, 2020 /CNW/ - Her Excellency the Right Honourable Julie Payette, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada, today released a Remembrance Day video which speaks of the importance of this year's Remembrance Day, marking the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, and which pays tribute to the service and courage of Canadian veterans.
The video includes touching personal accounts from veterans Elsa Lessard, of Ottawa, who speaks of the commemorations of this conflict and the lessons learned since 1939–45; Stuart Vallières, of Montréal, Quebec; Norm Kirby, of Lions Bay, British Columbia; and Yvan Bugeaud, of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, who talk about the physical and psychological scars their participation in the war effort left on them.
The video can be downloaded from the Governor General's website www.gg.ca.
Video Transcript:
Speaker |
Transcript |
Julie Payette |
Every year, on Remembrance Day, we pause to honour the sacrifice, the courage and the extraordinary service of our veterans. We pause to say thank you, for what they have done for our country and for what they still do. |
Julie Payette |
It's been 75 years since the end of the Second World War. Our veterans won many battles at great sacrifice. Over 43 000 Canadians died. Many more came home wounded and carrying psychological scars from years of conflict, something that wasn't talked about much at the time. |
Yvan Bugeaud |
I'm happy that I made it through what I went through, because I left many behind, especially at Caen. We lost so many friends and think of them often. |
Stuart Vallières |
We remained friends for life. We were family. I attended every one of their funerals, from New Brunswick to Vancouver. We got to know their families, and they got to know ours. |
Elsa Lessard |
I discovered then that we are all the same. It doesn't matter where you are in the world. We laugh over the same things. We cry over the same things. |
Norm Kirby |
It is something that you get used to, your friends dying and your acquaintances getting killed in some way very horribly. |
Yvan Bugeaud |
I was only 17 when I enlisted. I passed for 19. At 17, you don't think about the danger. You don't think about much. |
Stuart Vallières |
We had 20 tonnes of explosives in the plane. Our plane was hit, then went up in flames. That's where I lost my leg. I always did my best in the moment, making decisions. It's all you can do. |
Norm Kirby |
I was acting platoon commander. So I was just a kid myself, really. All of a sudden, I look around, and there's all these little kids, that had been hidden for years because if the Germans had found them, they would have punished them. But to look around and all these smiling kids, it was one of the best days of the war for me. |
Elsa Lessard |
We're called the Caring Canadians. I think that's a wonderful legacy to have. I have found it to be so true. |
Norm Kirby |
Sometimes I was so frightened I could hardly see, sometimes. I don't know what courage is, really. It's being scared. Being scared, and yet doing your job, even when you're afraid. |
Yvan Bugeaud |
We didn't think about being heroes. It was a bit of an adventure. |
Stuart Vallières |
We're fortunate to be Canadians. And I don't think that we realize it. We take it for granted. |
Stuart Vallières |
Best country in the world. It's worth doing everything we can to protect it. |
Elsa Lessard |
So over the years, we have told our story, and I think Canada does very well in commemorating the World War II. And I never miss a Remembrance Day service, and I always march. |
Julie Payette |
We remember them. |
Julie Payette |
Today and always. |
The English video is available at
https://www.gg.ca/en/multimedia/videos/2020/remembrance-day-2020.
The French video is available at
https://www.gg.ca/fr/multimedia/videos/2020/jour-du-souvenir-2020.
The video files are available via Dropbox at https://bit.ly/36mkSK5.
Follow GGJuliePayette on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
SOURCE Governor General of Canada
Media information: Rideau Hall Press Office, [email protected]
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