Canadians have answered the call of duty whenever and wherever tyranny has threatened the free world. Consequently, many of our brave men and women lie in graves in foreign lands or are commemorated on monuments erected to honour both the living and the dead.
Here are ten military monuments that are visited annually by people wishing to pay their respects to those who made the supreme sacrifice, those who came home wounded in body or spirit and those who kept the homefires burning.
Vimy Ridge Memorial – Vimy, France
This magnificent monument in Northern France underwent a $20-million refurbishment in time for the 90th anniversary in April of this year of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
Juno Beach Centre – Courseulles-sur-Mer, France
The only Canadian museum in Normandy, the Juno Beach Centre is a permanent exhibit offering documents, photographs, maps, artifacts, audio/visual and audio accounts of the D-Day landings of June, 1944.
Canadian War Museum – Ottawa, Ontario
This new state-of-the-art edifice is a fitting tribute to the men and women of Canada who fought, and in many cases died, for their country.
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum – Mount Hope, Ontario
Located at the Hamilton International Airport, the museum features the aircraft used by Canadians from World War Two to the present, including a restored and operational Lancaster bomber dedicated to the memory of Victoria Cross winner Andrew Mynarski.
National War Memorial – Ottawa, Ontario
Designed originally to commemorate the 60,000 Canadians who died in the First World War, the National War Memorial in Confederation Square has since come to commemorate all of Canada's war dead.
Canadian War Cemeteries in Holland
Most of Canada's 5,771 war dead in the Netherlands are buried in Canadian War Cemeteries in Groesbeek and Holten where schoolchildren care for assigned graves – placing poppies on the headstones on Holland’s Liberation Day and Remembrance Day as well as lighted candles at Christmastime.
In Flanders Fields Museum – Ypres, France
This fascinating World War One museum features a number of emotion-charged exhibits and a computer system where you obtain a card containing the name of a participant and follow his/her wartime experiences – learning the person’s fate on the last terminal before you exit the building.
John McCrae Gravesite - Wimereux, France
This Canadian medical officer was inspired to write the immortal poem In Flanders Fields after witnessing the carnage of the battles in Northern France during World War One.
D-Day Museum and Overlord Embroidery - Portsmouth, England
Telling the story of Operation Overlord from its origins in the dark days of 1940 to victory in Normandy in 1944, the museum features the amazing Overlord Embroidery, a modern-day counterpart to the Bayeux Tapestry.
Newfoundland Memorial - Beaumont-Hamel, France
This impressive monument in the Somme area of Northern France commemorates all Newfoundlanders who fought in World War One, particularly those who have no known grave.
Photo by Tom Douglas
This article appeared in the Ottawa Citizen and in many other newspapers when the original story was picked up by canada.com.
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