http://www.cbc.ca/storyview/MSN/world/national/2005/05/03/netherlands-canada050503.html
We will never forget. We will always be grateful.
Thank you.
I’m waiting until Thursday to resurrect the May 5th thread. Someone will probably beat me to it though.
I hope I’m the one who’ll beat you to it. 
This was because there were so many Canadian vets in Holland this year.
I’ll save the rest of my gratitude till Thursday.
You misspelled American gum, there is no d in america.
And if you knew anything at all about history, you’d realize that there were very few Americans in Holland driving out the Nazis. You probobly don’t care, you just want to shit on someone’s gratitude.
Unfortunately, U.S. schools rarely discuss anything that Americans didn’t specifically do or have done to us. I doubt most people on the street have any clue that Canada was even in WWII.
Not appropriate, Wesley Clark. Don’t derail this thread.
-SkipMagic
re-rails thread
It’s always slightly odd to hear about this – I think, really, I was born in 1981, what right do I have to be the object of gratitude for something that happened forty years before I was born?
Thinking about it, I feel deep gratitude as well to the veterans, not only for liberating the Netherlands but providing such a lasting source of pride for our country as well. I’m humbled by the depth of their service and their sacrifice.
And Wesley Clark is cordially invited.
gum, I think the dedication of the Dutch to commemorate the role that the Canadians played is admirable. As the decades slip by, and the veterans and the Dutch war survivors pass away, it would be only too easy to let the remembrances fade.
As an American, I agree. Americans tend to forget that we had allies in the war. We also forget that the people we “saved” are grateful even though they argue with us from time to time.
The Canadians took it hard, particularly at Dieppe. They gave back more than their own on June 6th when their beachhead met the most objectives of any force that day.
The Americans and British were the first to enter Holland, during the cock-up named Market Garden. They were later forced to retreat. The Canadians got it done.
As an American, I am unable to understand why Canada immediately volunteered men and women in both wars when neither of the wars were immediately threatening to Canada. In contrast, it took the US nearly 3 years to enter World War I, and over 2 to enter WW II.
For the record, and hopefully this will be the last post I make on this subject, I really am sorry if I detracted from this. I remember when there was a thread here on SD on how Maurice Hilleman saved 300+ million lives and he was just forgotten for it, how it made me feel and i’d be bothered if someone made a joke about that so I can see everyones point. I guess its the same for this situation (people not wanting good deeds to be forgotten)
So Gum, i’m sincerely sorry if I screwed up your thread. My apologies, I made a mistake.
It’s no mystery. Canada was much more tightly allied to the UK at the time than the US was. Great Britain was threatened; Canada responded.
Australia acted in the same way as Canada. It simply reflects the very close ties that existed at that date between the UK and its former colonies.
Thanks for starting this thread, gum. My late uncle was with the South Saskatchewan Regiment that saw action in Holland. I’ve been thinking about him this week.
Here’s a link to a news item on the South Saskatchewans: Veteran remembers liberation of Nazi camp.
It’s okay, Wesley Clark, I knew you were joking.
I’ll be thinking of your uncle as well, Northern Piper. Thank you for that link.
PastAllReason I’m sure we’ll keep remembering even if all the vets are gone. We are still very grateful, you know.
To America, Australia and all the rest of the allies see this thread.
Thank you, all.
Well, don’t forget that there were at least a few hundred or so Americans who traveled overseas and joined in the fight before the US as a whole did, in both WWI and WWII. Some, no doubt, were seeking glory, others, I’m sure, did it because they felt that the fight was right and honorable. (Of course a few even joined the opposite side of those wars.)
I’d WAG that so many Aussies and Canadians did it, not only because of their close ties to England, but because they probably have a better understanding of history than most Americans, and could grasp the importance of the events happening overseas.
Even today, Canadian soldiers are serving (with distinction, I might add) in Afghanistan, when many people could argue that they weren’t needed there. (Mind you, I dare them to say that to any American who’s served with Canadians in Afghanistan. US forces thought so highly of Canadian soldiers that they tried to award them medals and even offered them enlistment [at better pay] in the US military. The Canadians turned 'em down.)
The US is damned lucky to share a border with Canada, IMHO.
In May of the last couple of years, I’ve read through that thread from start to finish, and was preparing myself to do it again this year, but wanted to make sure I had some Kleenex (facial tissues) at hand this time. I have Kleenex on my shopping list for later today (May 4), and was hoping that no-one would link to Coldfire’s thread – one of the truly great threads of the SDMB – before I was ready! [Johnny L.A. gave us a “heads up” in post #2 here, but I didn’t take the bait at the time]. I plan on reading through it in its entirety, with a glass of whisky in one hand and a box of Kleenex near the other, about 16 hours from now.
Sixty years on, there are probably few SDMB members who were directly involved in the events of those years (I know that David Simmons was flying in B-26’s over Europe at the time, but cannot think of any other Dopers right now). Many of us have relatives who were in uniform then; my parents first met while they were both in British khakis.
Even though neither my country of birth nor of current residence were occupied during WW2, I think that we can all join our Dutch friends this May 5 in thanking the brave women and men of those days who fought to liberate occupied nations (and I include Germany in that list), and all too many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice and paid with their lives.
.
If I may speak on behalf of our country, you’re welcome.
And to Wesley Clark, be grateful I read the second post…you’ve got a lot to learn. Even when we weren’t flying, we were training American pilots.
My husband did some windows and doors for a man recently who landed at Dieppe - he was the first soldier there…56 of his buddies behind him. He blew things up. He returned with eight of the 53. He is Canadian. His wife, at the end of my husband’s day, came out to shake my husband’s hand and say that no one wanted to hear the stories any more and to thank him for listening.
It broke my husband’s heart and, even as I write this, tears are coming. My husband would’ve stayed there for days had he been able to and listened to this wonderful man.
Think of it as “oral history” and have your husband go back with a tape recorder and lots of tapes. History too quickly becomes the stories of generals and politicians and the men and women who got the job done are forgotten, often long before they die. Take this opportunity to collect one of those stories.