Remembrance Day 2008

[pyat]

The last Lancaster bomber (last still flying) in the world just went over, flanked by two other planes.


My mother's father was RCAF ground crew. He left behind his wife, two sons, and a daughter to serve a homeland he'd left at the age of 2. He, and a million other Canadian men, were volunteers - there was no conscription.


My father's father did not serve in the traditional sense. His country was invaded and occupied in early 1940, and intermittently bombed by the Allies throughout the war. He and my Oma raised two sons and two daughters in very difficult conditions. 250,000 of his countrymen died. Near the end of the war, he was placed in a concentration camp. He escaped - which is probably a story that deserves an entry of its own. (Note - he's wearing a Salvation Army uniform in this photo - he was the bandmaster of the Utrecht church).


I should also mention velvetpage's brother. We have some fundamentally different views of the world, but I recognize him as a decent and brave fellow. He's served tours with the Canadian Armed Forces in Serbia, the Middle-East, and Afghanistan.

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[relee.livejournal.com]

My grandfathers both served in World War 2. My great grandfather served in both world wars, the poor bastard. Lived to be 96 though so he got a good run of it.

Unfortunately they were all long dead by the time I was old enough to appreciate it. I would have really liked to hear about it first-hand like that. My grandfather on my father's side was a bombadier. He flew in planes and dropped bombs on Berlin. My grandfather on my mother's side was living in holland at the time and was conscripted by the germans along with his whole village, but after being trucked across the continent they abandonned their post and all walked home across Europe.


Uh, I kinda slept through today. I didn't realize it was rememberance day today, untill I turned on my t.v. when I woke up, around 5:30pm. ^.^;;