Since the founding of our country, generations of men and women have served Canada and the world during times of war, military conflict and peace. Through their courage and sacrifice, these men and women have helped to ensure that we live in freedom and peace, while also fostering freedom and peace around the world. Canadians have paused to recognise and honour their contribution at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month for over 100 years.
The Canadian Armed Forces involvement in colonial conflict, the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, Afghanistan and many other military operations and peace efforts were all backed by a collective commitment of Canadians to protect the rights of others and to foster peace and freedom. Over the history of our country, over 1,500,000 served, and more than 100,000 died for these beliefs and many more dedicated their lives to these pursuits.
During this year’s Remembrance Week, we draw your attention to the sacrifices of veterans from opposite ends of our shared Canadian Military Engineer timeline. At one end, we have initiated a feature to honour the gallantry of Canadian Engineers during the First World War. We have begun by compiling the names and developing person profiles of the more than 1200 warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers awarded the Military Medal for their bravery fighting on the Western Front. At the other end, and close to home, we also remember Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, CD, who died in a targeted terrorist attack.