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“How will you remember?” students ask
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Chase Zahacy, who is in Dan Gillmor’s Grade 11 20.1 Social Studies class, was one of several students to read letters of soldiers who served overseas. The students obtained the letters from the Canadian War Museum by researching the Internet.
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Sky Kasinec described her poignant experience about visiting Beaumont-Hamel. It was where the First Newfoundland Regiment served as part of the Battle of the Somme in July 1916, one of the bloodiest conflicts of the First World War.
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Kyra Backs offered a touching description of what it was like to visit Beaumont-Hamel. She imagined herself coming across the bloody battlefield and disfigured bodies and who the soldiers were to their families.
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Mac Olsen
for South Peace News
When Ashley Smith went to Europe in April 2009, she gained a new respect for Canadian soldiers who served in the trenches during the First World War.
“The thought of having mud up to my knees and having to dodge grenades and bullets at the same time is something I can only imagine,” says Smith. “Knowing what these Canadian soldiers put up with and lived through, proves to me how dedicated and loyal they were to our country.”
Smith made the statements as part of St. Andrew’s School’s Remembrance Day ceremony Nov. 10, the theme of which was ‘How Will You Remember?’
Smith and other students went to Belgium, France and the Netherlands in April 2009 to see where Canadian soldiers fought and died, as well as the cemeteries.
Randi-Lea Toner reflects about visiting the Vimy Ridge Memorial in France, about its beauty but all how it became “Satan’s playground.”
“Standing at the bottom of the magnificent monument, I looked at my surroundings and saw the beauty, what everybody else saw, but what we don’t see is what lies behind the beauty. It was a sea of mud and water. The soldiers were knee deep in mud that had rats and who knows what else beneath the mud,” says Toner.
“This image made me stop and think how it looked like Satan’s playground. I realized then and there, how much we still don’t understand and never fully will. Despite the hardships and turmoil, brave men went and fought for freedom. We will never begin to know how much they sacrificed for us. In the words of William Tecumseh Sherman, ‘War is Hell.’”
Sky Kasinec offers her thoughts about what it was like to visit to area known as Beaumont-Hamel. It was where the First Newfoundland Regiment served as part of the Battle of the Somme, which started July 1, 1916.
Kasinec explains 801 Newfoundland soldiers left their trenches that day, but only 68 returned to answer roll call. But it’s their youth which really stands out for her.
“Many of these men were around my age or my friend’s ages. Those were mothers’ sons. Children’s fathers. Brothers and best friends,” she says.
“And so many of them were wounded and missing. No training or exercises can prepare anyone for such tragedy. And standing in person by the Danger Tree, where so many men breathed their last breath and whispered their last word, caused so much mixed feelings.
“I was standing on Canadian soil, standing where men died many years ago. And I cannot for one minute start to think of what these soldiers were thing about before leaving the trenches. I hope they will not be forgotten.”
Kyra Backs also reflected about the trip to Beaumont-Hamel, imagining herself coming across the bloody battlefield and disfigured bodies.
“Standing on a once ravaged land, the beauty that surrounds is overwhelming. As the breeze brushes my face, I instead feel bullets flying like a Gail force wind. The bird songs overhead turn to the sound of destruction, gunfire and explosions.
“The giddy laughter of my fellow travellers turns to terrified screams, yells and cries of war. We approach the Danger Tree and are informed that this is where most of the fallen were found. This fact conjures images of broken and bloodied men, bodies contorted in agony.
“Solemnly, we head back to the monument, looking at all the names, these are the ones that were never found. I scan down the lists, wait, I know that name. Someone I know never made it home. Frozen, my mind goes back to graveyards filled with soldiers, no not soldiers, children. To a crying mother whispering, ‘They’re your age.’ To the hundreds of scattered graves marked unknown. To the realization that some people will never know what became of their fathers, mothers, siblings, children and grandparents.
“I come back to myself and barely seconds have past, but it feels like a lifetime. And the once ravaged and still beautiful land now holds a looming sadness that was unnoticed to me until now. I walk back lost in thought, as a single tear slips down my cheek, a part of me forever left at Beaumont-Hamel.”
Other students read letters from soldiers who served overseas. They obtained the letters by researching the Canadian War Museum’s website.
Dan Gillmor’s Grade 11 20.1 Social Studies class organized the ceremony. It included creating a multimedia presentation with photos of Canadian soldiers who have served in wars and peacekeeping missions around the world. Derek Dunn created the presentation.
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