November 11, 2021. OTTAWA, ON. Today, on Remembrance Day, we honour the Canadians who have served and continue to serve our country in uniform. We remember their valour and their sacrifice in defence of our freedom.
Throughout the history of our nation, Canadian servicemen and servicewomen have fought with courage defending our liberty and our way of life. Many gave their lives so that we may be free. Many more returned home wounded, bearing the physical and psychological scars of the horrors of war. We owe to them a debt that we can never repay.
“Today, Canada pauses for two minutes of silence in memory of the Canadians who have fallen defending our country,” stated Captain (Retd) Andre Sochaniwsky, CD, President of the Ukrainian War Veterans Association of Canada. “May their commitment to service and to the ideals that define our nation stand as an example for us all to emulate and may God protect all those who serve Canada today.”
In 2014, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, war returned to eastern Europe. As Ukrainian Canadians, we thank the 200 Canadian soldiers training their Ukrainian allies in Operation UNIFIER for their service to Canada and their assistance to our Ukrainian sisters and brothers.
We pause today to remember the sacrifices of the soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, who for an eighth year defend their country from Russia’s war of aggression. In the trenches and on the battlefields of Ukraine’s east, the Ukrainian Armed Forces defend liberty, justice and democracy from the scourges of tyranny and imperialism. With God’s help they will be victorious.
Lest We Forget
Вічная Пам’ять
Support the Legion’s Poppy Campaign
The UCC encourages all Canadians support the Royal Canadian Legion’s 2021 Poppy Campaign. Donations can be made online here.
Маки цвітуть на Фландрії полях
Маки цвітуть на Фландрії полях
Поміж хрестів рядями на гробах,
Де поховали нас. А в небі голубім
Лунає дзвінко жайворонів спів.
Не чути його через рев гармат внизу,
Ми мертві вже. Ще кілька днів тому
Живі були, сонце заходило за хмари,
Когось любили, й нас також кохали
Тепер ми лежимо на Фландрії полях.
Продовжуйте боротись з ворогами
Ми вам передаєм зболілими руками
Наш смолоскип. Вгору держіть цей стяг.
Бо як зламаєте довіря тих, які лежать в гробах,
Ми не заснем, хоч маки розцвітили
На Фландрії полях
переклад С Гурко, 2009 р
Au champ d’honneur
Au champ d’honneur, les coquelicots
Sont parsemés de lot en lot
Auprès des croix; et dans l’espace
Les alouettes devenues lasses
Mêlent leurs chants au sifflement
Des obusiers.
Nous sommes morts
Nous qui songions la veille encor’
À nos parents,
à nos amis,
C’est nous qui reposons ici
Au champ d’honneur.
À vous jeunes désabusés
À vous de porter l’oriflamme
Et de garder au fond de l’âme
Le goût de vivre en liberté.
Acceptez le défi, sinon
Les coquelicots se faneront
Au champ d’honneur.
French adaptation of John McCrae’s In Flanders Fields, adapted by Jean Pariseau, CM, CD, D. ès L.
In Flanders Fields
By John McCrae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.
