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Losing Touch With Canada's Modern Historical Achievements
Does the direct human link to the Great War slip away with the passing of John Babcock, Canada's last veteran of the First World War?
Last week I entered my grade eleven history classroom and shelved the planned activity. This had nothing to do with curriculum reform or new ministerial priorities. My decision was motivated by a single notable event from the previous day. John Babcock, Canada’s last veteran of the First World War, had died at age 109. With his passing, our direct human link to the Great War also slipped away, never to be reclaimed. This development warranted immediate discussion between my students – and perhaps we also now need a national conversation. What are the broader implications for Canada? Will we risk becoming what some analysts call a society without memory?
In the Great War more than 600-thousand Canadians served in Europe, and approximately 67-thousand died. It was a mammoth contribution from a young country with less than 8-million citizens. However, a national poll commissioned in 2008 by the Dominion Institute and Ipsos Reid on the eve of the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War, revealed a shocking ignorance on the part of Canadians about the nature of our effort, especially younger Canadians, aged 18-34. Less than half the respondents even knew that Remembrance Day marks the end of WWI – and fewer than one in five could even identify our opponents. Never mind the achievements and sacrifices at Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, Ypres, or the Somme; those monumental battles seem to have now faded from public consciousness. Like it or not, Canada is actually losing touch with its most basic modern historical achievements and the sense of pride that should come with such sacrifice.
A few years ago, concerned with our apparent growing national detachment from Canada’s proud war-time history, I joined the board of a new non-profit organization called the Vimy Foundation. With a mission to promote a greater awareness of Canada’s achievements during the two World Wars, the Vimy Foundation has tried to take concrete steps to rectify the problem. Since 2006 it has sent several dozen outstanding Canadian high school students to Europe for active travel-study experiences focused on visiting the striking battlefields, cemeteries, monuments and museums of the two World Wars. The students are brought together with youth from Britain and France to share knowledge and to bond. Students are subsequently charged with the responsibility of sharing their learning with people in their home communities and beyond.
The foundation is also proud to have started a national campaign with the issue of an attractive commemorative pin marking Canada’s great victory at Vimy Ridge in France in April, 1917. We hope that many thousands of Canadians will buy the pin and wear it proudly this coming Vimy Day on April 9th - an opportunity for our whole country to celebrate Canada’s war-time achievements in unison. We propose that this be an annual national day of commemoration - a true coming together to celebrate our common history. This year during the first week of April, the foundations have also organized an educational program for secondary students at the Encounters with Canada leadership Centre in Ottawa. Note, the Vimy Foundation is only one example of a grassroots organization rooted in Canadian pride that is taking action. So much more is possible.
So what did my students think about the death of John Babcock? They noted that his passing indeed reflects the end of an era. They stressed our need to honour Mr. Babcock and all veterans who did so much to define our nation. We cannot allow their enormous sacrifice to slip away into the darkness. We owe it to ourselves and to future generation to hold a national conversation about the lessons of the World Wars and to raise awareness. Mr. Babcock may not have wanted a state funeral, but he surely would have liked to see all Canadians learn more and discuss our proud history with interest. Lest we forget!
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