When Canada was a country to be proud of

[Hedley]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada%27s_Hundred_Days

Canada's Hundred Days refers to the last 96 days of World War I, from August 8 to November 11 of 1918. It is called Canada's Hundred Days because the Canadians had been the main factor in causing the German retreat and eventual defeat. During this time, the Canadian Corps fought at Amiens, the Hindenburg Line, the Canal du Nord, Bourlon Wood, Denain, Valenciennes and finally at Mons, on the final day of the First World War.

Over this period, the Canadian Corps' four over-strength Divisions of 100 000 men, defeated and/or put to flight 34 German Divisions, roughly one quarter of the German forces fighting on the Western Front. Along with the battles of Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele, Canada's Hundred Days cemented the reputation of the Canadian Corps as a tough and professional fighting force amongst its allies and foes.

Ah, for the days before politically correct, sensitive new-age
left-wing Canadian males got in touch with their "inner child"

I know. I'm old. Just ignore me.

[Guido]

I know. I'm old. Just ignore me.

Yep, ok.

[Nightshiftzombie]

Yep. Nothing like killing folks to make you feel proud.

[sky's the limit]

I would argue Canada is still very much a place to be proud of..... It's just not perfect.

You don't have to fight a horrifically bloody war to find something to hang your hat on....


stl

[mcrit]

NSZ....so you think Chamberlain's hesitence to kill people was something to be more proud of?

[Nightshiftzombie]

I do. If a few people in the White House had shown some hesitation to kill, we might not have spent the last few years watching the "Bloodbath in Babylon".

[sky's the limit]

NSZ....so you think Chamberlain's hesitence to kill people was something to be more proud of?

Do any of you who so frequently reference poor old Chamberlian's hesitation to start WWII EVER consider why? Or has America's version of history blinded us so badly?

England, France, and the rest of Europe had only one generation earlier come through "the War to end all Wars," loosing in the process almost an entire generation of young people, and in one case, almost an entire people. (I'm referencing the Armenian Genocide buy the Ottoman Turks in the latter part of WWI. But that's another story) Not to mention WWI was financially crippling to many nations, not least of which was Britain.

If I were Chamberlain, I think I would have been very, very careful too. War is a last resort, and to the British leaders of the time, a lesson hard learned in a war that was supposed "to be over by Christmas," but ended up consuming MILLIONS of lives. But of course the Yanks don't see it that way, and they like to write the history....

stl

[hazatude]

Hedley.

My Great Grandfather fought in WWI but I never met him. I am proud of him though and think his memory is honoured by threads like these. Less the bleeding-heart riff-raff...

[Old Dog Flying]

Hedley: I'm with you my old fart friend...we ancient aviators have to stick together.

My grandfather served in the Canadian Army in the First Great War...after having been in the Boer War. My uncle was gassed in the first war to end all wars and my father served throughout the Second World War.

And I served for 23 years in the Air Force and I'm damned proud of it.

If it were not for the selfless sacrifices of our veterns, these revisionists would not be here to spew their drivel.

A Proud Canadian
Per Ardua Ad Astra.

[xsbank]

Old Dog, same for me except I did not serve myself - my grandfather survived Vimy and my father was in the Battle of Britain.

You guys need to read some history to see why Chamberlain had his head firmly up his *ss. Hitler was already "annexing" Europe and the old guard in Britain refused to see the looming threat - it was Churchill and the younger generation who "deposed" Chamberlain and ramped up the production of armaments that, with Hitler's incompetence/lunacy and subsequent delays (boy, am I ever over-simplifying this) saved Britain and ultimately gave them the delay they needed to turn the tide.

Go easy on me, I'm trying to make this short!

[sky's the limit]

Hey,

Nobody's saying it wasn't right to go after old Adolph, but it should have been done YEARS before it was. There's good reason for it too, that's all I'm saying.

You want to blame something, blame the fatally flawed "Peace" that was signed in 1919..... While we're at it, we can thank that same process for the mess that is Israel/Palestine.

There is however, nothing "glorious" about war.

stl

[Old Dog Flying]

I agree that there is nothing "glorious" about war but when it happens as in 1914 and again in 1939 and in 1950 (for those that can remember that one) there is the old saying..."Lead..Follow..Or get the hell out of the way"

Or in George Dubaya's war it is all about oil...so we can leave that dickhead out of the equation

[sky's the limit]

I agree that there is nothing "glorious" about war but when it happens as in 1914 and again in 1939 and in 1950 (for those that can remember that one) there is the old saying..."Lead..Follow..Or get the hell out of the way"

Or in George Dubaya's war it is all about oil...so we can leave that dickhead out of the equation

Right there with you ODF.

stl

[Stoptheworld]

History places an unfair burden on Chamberlain. By the time Munich rolled around, the British position was precarious thanks to the previous Prime Minister: Stanley Baldwin. Chamberlain, naively, hoped he could avoid war. He was sadly mistaken

Just finished "The Gathering Storm" Churchill's first volume of his memoirs on WWII. He is quite kind to Chamberlain. Baldwin is identified as the worst appeaser

Hitler could have been stopped in 1934

Hedley, nailed it on the head again.

[F,D and H]

I agree that there is nothing "glorious" about war but when it happens as in 1914 and again in 1939 and in 1950 (for those that can remember that one) there is the old saying..."Lead..Follow..Or get the hell out of the way"

Or in George Dubaya's war it is all about oil...so we can leave that dickhead out of the equation

C'mon, we all clearly know that it was about the WMD's

[The Old Fogducker]

A little thing like Saddam's 550 tons of uranium yellowcake. Isn't a big enough deal for you folks?

Fog

[Guido]

A little thing like Saddam's 550 tons of uranium yellowcake. Isn't a big enough deal for you folks?

Fog

Nope. That was from the defunct weapons program and was leftovers that were being monitored by the IAEA. Old news, dude.

[Hedley]

My grandfather served in the Canadian Army in the First Great War

Sounds familiar. My maternal grandfather joined up when he was 15
years old (farm boys grew up quick those days) and into the trenches
he went. I cannot possibly imagine the hell he survived. But he never
talked about it, and had a tremendous sense of humour. All I remember
him mentioning to me about the First War was that he learned to take
apart and re-assemble a machine gun blindfolded. Neat trick.

Of interest, is that of the 32 farm boys of O'Connor township
(outside what is today Thunder Bay) who joined up, 30 died.
Only 2 returned.

My paternal grandfather and his brother, my great-uncle, both
flew in the RFC in WWI. In a display of more balls than brains,
my great-uncle, flying a lumbering two-seater, tackled Von Richtofen
and actually survived the encounter. He died later of his wounds.

A Proud Canadian
Per Ardua Ad Astra.

That says it all.

[AdamB]

So then Canada IS a country to be proud of, for the achievements of it's ancestors.

It's easy to say valiant deeds are a part of this nations past, but it's hard to match the valiant deeds of war heroes in peace time.

That being said, those heroes fought the horrible wars so that our generations could live in peace. In Canada's case, they succeded. As long as we don't forget their sacrifices and are grateful for them, there is nothing to be ashamed of living in a peaceful country.

If you're looking for more reasons to be proud - think of all the immigrants who dream of coming here to lead better lives than they did back home. Coming from an immigrant family, I can say that Canada gives anybody the possibility to lead their life in a way that would be impossible in many places in the world.

So politics and semantics aside, Canada is a great country to live in. No place is perfect, every government has its glitches, but few places are as good to live in as Canada.

And that is, or should be, something to be proud of.

But hey, that's only my opinion.

[Rockie]

Canada has transitioned from a combat arms military (WWII and Korea) to mostly Peacekeeping, which was great for us at the time. Then the government sent a strictly combat arms portion of the military in to do a peacekeeping job in Somalia and that didn't turn out so well. Unfortunately the government blamed the military instead of their own stupidity, and disbanded a whole regiment because of their own mistake.

Now, thankfully, the government recognizes that combat arms are required again and is giving the military the tools and backing to be what they should be. We as a country are once again doing what is required, albiet on a smaller scale than the two world wars. We should be proud.

[2R]

There was a time when Canada honoured fighting men and women
Now it is the fashion to honour men who cower in basements while women and children are hacked to death outside
There was a time when Canada honoured Doctors who saved human life by creating vacines against polio
Now it is the fashion to honour men who set up mass killing clinics that Himmler would be proud of
There was a time when Canada had the Lords prayer in schools
Now it is the fashion to have school shootings,assaults , peer abuse and bullying
There was a time when we could cross our neighbours friendly border with a nod and a smile
Now it is the fashion to let terrorists live amongst us and the border is one big attack from being closed
There was a time when all Canadians honoured the Treaties made with the Iroquios,the Cree,The Mohawks,The Algonquin,The Original Six Nations,and other tribes that where our brothers in arms and trade that made this Country
Now it is the fashion for some to call the tribes "natives" and not honour agreements that have given us the "Native Problems"

The times are changing and so are the fashions,i wonder what fashions we will see on the next orbit around the sun(next year )

[mcrit]

STL, and what would the world look like if Chamberlain had had his way? Well, I bet we wouldn't have a problem with the Taliban....or any other group of Brown people. After all, why fight to defend them when turning them over to the Nazi's would have meant peace? Same statement goes for gays, lesbians, Blacks, and bong owning BC helio pilots.
Face facts, nature rewards inteligent aggression. If you're not willing to fight you had better be ready to get fucked.

[sky's the limit]

STL, and what would the world look like if Chamberlain had had his way? Well, I bet we wouldn't have a problem with the Taliban....or any other group of Brown people. After all, why fight to defend them when turning them over to the Nazi's would have meant peace? Same statement goes for gays, lesbians, Blacks, and bong owning BC helio pilots.
Face facts, nature rewards inteligent aggression. If you're not willing to fight you had better be ready to get fucked.

You know,

It's ignorance like yours that is the true threat to this country, you're obviously a first class nutter, so count this as the last time I lower myself to your extremely stunted level. You really are clueless.

Are you suggesting "gays, lesbians, Blacks, and bong owning BC helio(sic) pilots" should be disposed of? You're either too stupid to use English well enough to make your point, or your a racist bigot. Which is it? Don't bother answering, I won't be reading.

Grow the F*ck up, better yet, go back to school, because if you represent a cross-section of the aviation industry, we're right where we deserve to be.....

stl

[mcrit]

And once again we see STL shrug as he replies...."I got nothin' " when confronted with facts. Had Chamberlain had his way gays, lesbians, Blacks, bong owning BC helio pilots, and a whole plethora of others would be in very short supply right now. So, what it really comes down to is that if it weren't for people who think like me, they (and people that think like you) would be dead now. Your welcome for keeping you safe.
As an interesting aside, the alliance between the Nazis and Imperial Japan was truely ironic given that each group considered the other to be racially inferior. Politics makes strange bed fellows.

[invertedattitude]

My Great uncle fought at Vimy Ridge, and many in my family have served in active combat duty, on land and sea and in the air for the Canadian forces over the years.

I very proudly would wear the Maple leaf and fight for my country should the need once again arise, IMO anyone who wouldn't doesn't deserve any of the benefits provided by living in this nation.