Today, the eleventh of November is of course Remembrance Day in Canada. I always try to get to a Cenotaph, either in my local town or even in Ottawa. Today, with blue skies and comfortably nippy temperatures, would have been the perfect day to go out, but my hacking cough not only would have disturbed the solemnity of the moments of silence, but I likely would have done in a few of the more mature veterans if they caught something from me.
So I watched, for the first time in years, the CBC Coverage. The neat thing is the pre ceremony coverage and the highlight was an interview with the Silver Cross Mother Della Morley. The interviewer asked an amazingly inane question “Do you remember the moment they told you your son had been killed” Ms. Morley had the grace to continue the interview, and just showed a steel and elegance that few can.
The Governor General was decked out in a military (Mobile Command) uniform which she is entitled to wear because she is the Commander of the CF. My first gut reaction was that it looked a bit silly, and since she has never served, maybe it was not right. Would President Obama have dared wear a uniform today at the Tomb of the Unknowns? But it grew on me. I think that she stretched herself to wear the uniform and that shows a respect for the soldiers and remembrance. And HRH Prince Charles looked pretty striking in his uniform; again I think it showed respect.
Peter Mansbridge , to his and the CBCs credit, maintains silence during the period of remembrance and all in all I am glad that I was able to watch this.
I am glad that the White Poppies have gone back in the Tickle Trunk. I am a little offended by the thought that wearing a Red Poppy means that you support war and wearing a White Poppy means you are against war. I of course in no way can speak for Della Morley but she wears a red poppy. I think she can support war, be horrified by war, be anti war, be saddened beyond imagination by a death, be honored to stand up for all the bereaved on November 11th, be angry, be happy, and still proudly wear a red poppy – just like me.