National Ceremony To Honour WW I Vets

This is a recent CBC News Story

The federal government will hold a national commemorative ceremony in April to honour Canadians and Newfoundlanders who served during the First World War, Veteran Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn announced on Tuesday.

Newfoundland, then a separate dominion before it became a Canadian province, sent thousands of troops to fight in the war. More than 1,200 of them died.

The ceremony, to be held April 9 on Vimy Ridge Day at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, follows the death of Canada's last known First World War veteran.

John Babcock, who died last month at age 109, was the last link to the 650,000 Canadian men and women who served in the First World War, Prime Minister Stephen Harper remarked upon his death.

Babcock's death marked the end of an era, Blackburn told CBC-TV's Power & Politics with Evan Solomon.

"When Mr. Babcock died … we thought it was important to take the opportunity of this occasion to remind Canadians what those 650,000 Canadians and Newfoundlanders have done for [us] in this great war," he said.

"And we should realize 68,000 of those Canadians have lost their lives. They have done the great sacrifice for us to have a better life. And also 170,000 Canadians in the first war came back with injuries."

Other ceremonies will take place across Canada, along with events at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France and the Canada Memorial at Green Park, in London, England.

The government is also providing "books of reflection" for the public to sign to pay their respects. An online version will also be available at the Veterans Affairs Canada website.

Crew members must have firefighting training

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Firefighting is viewed by most people as a very difficult and sometimes dangerous way to earn a living.

Onboard HMCS Fredericton, this idea takes on a new meaning as every member of her crew could be called upon to perform the duties of a firefighter.

The ship has a complement of four professional firefighters at her disposal. At sea their primary responsibility is providing fire protection for the ship's CH-124 Sea King helicopter.

Throughout the day and night, firefighters are required to don their bunker gear and man their positions whenever the aircraft lands or takes flight.

Should any incidents occur, such as a crash on the flight deck, firefighters can immediately intervene to execute a rescue of the crew and extinguish any fires.

Firefighters may also be called upon in the event of a shipboard fire.

Once confirmation of a fire has been made the ship's RAT (rapid attack team) is utilized. The team is comprised of two firefighters and two sailors who have received extensive fire training. The team's primary role is rescue of trapped personnel. Once the benchmark "all clear" has been achieved after a primary search of the space, the team can focus on fire suppression.

Concurrently, the ship establishes a command area where orders are issued to the ship's section base teams.

Each section base provides a fire attack team to help fight the fire and relieve personnel who were involved during the initial response.

Once the crew becomes involved in firefighting activities, primary jobs are put aside. Every person who sails in Her Majesty's Canadian Ship's undergoes training at the Navy's damage control training facility.

This training enables any member of the ship's company to fill a fire suppression role, assisting in extinguishing and overhauling a fire.

These are some of the duties crew members may be expected to perform in the event of an emergency.

The responsibility for fire prevention and firefighting activities falls on the shoulders of every man and woman serving on HMCS Fredericton. This level of teamwork is what brings the ship and her crew home safely at the end of the day.

Naval Term of the Week:

Scuttlebutt: Gossip or rumours. This term originated from the crew of ships talking while at the scuttlebutt. The scuttlebutt was a water cask, called a "butt," which was "scuttled" by making a hole in it so that water could be withdrawn.

Cpl. Garrett Powers is a firefighter on HMCS Fredericton who's originally from Toronto, Ont.

D-Day, June 6th 1944 Canadians, British @ Canadians

WW II : RARE COLOR FILM : D-DAY : JUNE 5TH 1944

The 1st Hussars Regiment marches through the street of London Ontario each year around 6 June to commemorate it's participation during the Normandy D-

The 1st Hussars Regiment marches through the street of London Ontario each year around 6 June to commemorate it's participation during the Normandy D-Day landing on 6 June 1944.

August 14 Ottawa Canada Dedication of Memorial for Canadian veterans of Hong Kong

Everybody and Anybody who knows anythings about the Second World War, know that some of the meanest and cruelest Soldiers were those of the Japanese. From what the Japanese did to all of the Allied Hong Kong Veterans, I have no hesitation in saying personally, the best thing that happened fighting the Japs, was the dropping the Atom Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Some POWS even though now in 2010 that were held captive by the Japanese are still Mentally affected and suffering both Mentally and Physically,and will be until the day they die. All one has to do, is read True History Accounts of what the Japs did to all of the Allied POWS.

I think even some abused Pets are treated better, than what the Japanese did to our ALLIED JAPANESE POWS

Hopefully some of You Tube Videos on this post will teach you even a little bit, about what our Allied Hong Kong Vets went through.

Military commander officially charged

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BELLEVILLE, Ont. - Col. Russell Williams, once a well-respected commander in the Canadian air force, appeared in court via video to face first-degree murder charges yesterday looking a shadow of his former self.

Enlarge Photo THE CANADIAN PRESSCol. Tony O'Keeffe, attending officer and friend to Col. Russell Williams, speaks to reporters outside the Provincial Court in Belleville, Ont. yesterday. Williams, charged with two counts of first-degree murder, was to be officially relieved of his duties yesterday.
Williams appeared briefly from the nearby Quinte Detention Centre, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and appearing unshaven. He sauntered toward the camera and stood stooped in front of it, with none of the crispness Canadians are used to seeing from military officers.

He let out a heavy sigh before stating his full name -- David Russell Williams -- on the record.

The quick appearance illustrated Williams' sudden and shocking fall from the upper echelons of Canada's military. A military officer assigned to report back on the proceedings said he was to visit Williams in jail yesterday to officially relieve him of his duties as commander of Canadian Forces Base Trenton.

Lt. Col. Tony O'Keeffe has known Williams for nine years and said the man on the courtroom screen didn't look like the "compassionate" Williams he knows.

"He just looks tired and that's a novelty for the man I know that was able to handle (multiple) tasks of varying complexity," O'Keeffe said outside court.

"He's an intellect. He's a professional. He's a friend to me. I don't know what else to say."

CFB Trenton will hold a ceremony Friday to mark Col. Dave Cochrane officially taking command. Williams will for now continue to be paid as he has not been convicted of any offence, O'Keeffe said.

Williams' case was put over until March 25, when he will appear in court in Belleville again via video.

Meanwhile, provincial police continued to search Williams' home in nearby Tweed, Ont. An officer could be seen bringing a large brown paper bag out of the home and using a small camcorder to film inside and outside a shed on the property. By early afternoon two officers left in a forensic identification van, leaving only a couple of officers outside the home guarding the property cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape.

O'Keeffe also knows Williams' wife, calling the couple's relationship "like any dedicated married couple," and said he has spoken briefly with her.

"She's an admirable, remarkable lady," O'Keeffe said of Mary Elizabeth Harriman, an associate executive director at the Heart and Stroke Foundation in Ottawa.

"She's handling things very well, considering."

Williams, 46, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Cpl. Marie-France Comeau of Brighton and Jessica Lloyd of Belleville, who was killed in late January.

He is also charged with two counts each of forcible confinement, break and enter and sexual assault relating to the attacks on women during home invasions in Tweed on Sept. 17 and Sept. 30. Williams has hired high-profile Ottawa lawyer Michael Edelson to handle his case, although Edelson sent an agent to court for yesterday's hearing.

Canada's last known WWI vet has died at 109, PMO says.

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OTTAWA - Canada's last known First World War veteran has died, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement, John Babcock was 109.

"As a nation, we honour his service and mourn his passing," Prime Minister Harper said in a statement issued from Ottawa. Babcock was the last link to the 650, 000 Canadian men and women who served in the First World War, Harper noted.

"The passing of Mr. Babcock marks the end of an era," Harper said in the statement. "His family mourns the passing of a great man. Canada mourns the passing of the generation that asserted our independence on the world stage and established our international reputation as an unwavering champion of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law."

Babcock joined the military at the age of 16, but because of his age wasn't allowed on the frontlines.

He spent his final years living in Spokane, Washington.

Cpl. Baker returned to Canadian soil

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Family members were overcome with emotion as the body of Cpl. Joshua Caleb Baker returned to Canadian soil during a repatriation ceremony at CFB Trenton Monday afternoon.

Baker, 24, was a member of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment from Edmonton, AB, and was serving with the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team when he was killed during a training exercise Friday. Four other soldiers were injured in the exercise, which the military says it will investigate.

Baker's family was joined by Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Gen. Walter Natynczyk as they watched the casket of the fallen soldier as it was carried out of a C-17 Globemaster. As well, Canadians lined the bridges and overpasses along the 401 as Baker's body was taken to Toronto.
In a statement on her website, Governor General Michaelle Jean said Baker
was a brave soldier.

"Corporal Baker served bravely and generously to support Afghans¹ hopes for security, justice and a better life. He merits our wholehearted admiration," she said, adding for those soldiers that were injured, "We also offer our wishes for a speedy recovery."

In a statement, Baker's family said he was a "soft-spoken man with a great sense of humour who loved his family above all things."

They said Baker was proud to be in the military and was "hoping to make a difference in Afghanistan."

Trenton to parade for troops

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TORONTO -- The mayor of the Trenton, Ont. which was rocked when police accused a top military officer of being a serial rapist and killer is inviting the community to parade in support of the troops.

Quinte West Mayor John Williams, who oversees an area that includes Trenton, issued a statement before the funeral of Jessica Lloyd calling for residents to show up for a “military appreciation rally” next Saturday.

Starting at 10 a.m. at Bain Park, on the corner of Hwy. 2 and RCAF Rd., marchers will end up at the busy highway’s entrance to CFB Trenton, Canada’s largest military transportion base.

The arrest of 8 Wing commander Col. Russ Williams last Sunday — the day before Lloyd’s body, missing 11 days — was found near the village of Tweed, prompted some media reports about antagonism towards people in uniform. But such responses are limited and uncalled for, sat residents in the military town.

“We encourage everyone to come out and show their support to the men and women of the military and their families,” Mayor Williams said in his notice, calling the parade “neighbours supporting neighbours.”

Williams, who regularly met with the colonel but is not related to him, urged participants “bring your flags, signs and personal support.”

At Lloyd’s funeral in Belleville Saturday, her cousin appealed for support for the military, telling 300 people who came to a funeral home chapel not to turn away or denigrate anyone in uniform,

John Lloyd said “we’re a military family.”

Outside, as a handful of people who couldn’t get into the packed service listened to the service over loud speakers, Belleville Transit buses rolled by with “Support our Troops” on digital displays.

A small contingent from the base joined mourners for the 40-minute service, including Lt.-Col. Dave Murphy, acting 8 Wing commander until a replacement takes over this week, and Wing Chief Warrant Officer Kevin West, the accused wing boss’s assistant.

They were joined by Belleville Police Chief Cory McMullan, Det.-Insp. Mike Graham, several OPP officers and Belleville Mayor Neil Ellis.

Relatives were asked not to speak to the media, but in a brief interview, the slain transportation company worker’s only sibling, Andy Lloyd, told The Toronto Sun the family would release a statement “later this week.”

Wearing his crisp uniform, Toronto Police Const. Scott Blakely — Andy’s longtime friend — returned to the city where he grew up to pay respects.

Struggling for words, Blakely said “I grew up with Andy and Jessica. I was friends with Andy and she was the little sister who tagged along.”

Repatriation set for Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan

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EDMONTON (CBC) - The repatriation ceremony for Cpl. Joshua Baker of Edmonton, who was killed in Afghanistan, was scheduled to take place at 2 p.m. ET Monday at Canadian Forces Base Trenton as his body arrives home.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay is among those expected to attend.

Baker, 24, died Friday in a shooting range accident during a normal training exercise. Four other soldiers were hurt at the shooting range, about four kilometres from Kandahar.

The four wounded were taken by helicopter to hospital at Kandahar Airfield and are in stable condition. Their names will not be released.

The military is investigating the accident and has not released any other details.

Baker served with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, 4th Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. Flags at the Edmonton garrison flew at half-mast over the weekend.

Baker "had a laugh rumoured to cure cancer," Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard, Canada's top commander in Kandahar, said in a news release.

His death raises to 140 the number of Canadian soldiers to die in the country since 2002. Four Canadian civilians have also been killed, including a diplomat, a journalist and two aid workers.

Military Mail Returned

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OROMOCTO - A woman in the model town says Canada Post has returned cards and letters sent to her daughter serving on HMCS Fredericton for insufficient postage.

Lorraine Robichaud said she's spoken to a member of the military at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown and has been told similar complaints have been received.

Canada Post announced last year it was extending a program that allows family and friends of deployed troops and sailors to send letters free throughout 2010.

Robichaud said Canada Post has given her a case number and she has been told it will take a week to investigate her complaint. She said members of the military such as her daughter, who is aboard HMCS Fredericton off the Horn of Africa, look forward to mail from home and to have it returned is disheartening.

A spokesman for Canada Post couldn't be reached for comment.

Reservists head north for Arctic exercise

How cool is life in the Canadian military reserve?

More than 100 guys — and some females — are heading out Sunday morning for a practice mission to do what they describe as “lots of cool stuff” in a cool environment.

It’s very cool, in fact. It’s Churchill in February.

Each carrying up to 140 pounds of gear for Exercise Northern Bison, the members of 38 Canadian Brigade Group will carry out the week-long training while living off the land and sleeping in tents in the snow near the shore of Hudson Bay.

Most civilians would call that roughing it. Master corporals Jason Papilion and Rick Cumbers say they’re loving it.

“My main goal is to make sure that our guys can do their jobs,” Cumbers, a reservist who lives in Saskatoon with a day job as a college industrial mechanics instructor, said Saturday at Minto Armouries.

“And that they don’t freeze and die up there. And we want to bring everybody back happy with all their appendages. Hopefully they’ll gain the confidence and skills to do this again.”

The exercise, running until Feb. 21, will involve the Brigade Group’s part-time military members from Saskatchewan, Manitoba and northwestern Ontario.

While they gathered at the St. Matthews Avenue armoury to check their gear, Papilion pointed out that he’s been to Churchill before — once, as part of his civilian career with Service Canada.

“We’re going to work on our northern skills, whether it be surviving or basic operations in the Arctic,” said Papilion, of Moose Jaw, Sask. “It’s getting some practice in sub-arctic and arctic conditions.”

The practice will include getting around on snowshoes and skis, as well as forms of snowmobiles, he explained, and “learning to manoeuvre as a platoon while on a Ski-doo with all the gear we’re going to be pulling.”

Working about 30 km outside Churchill with the military’s Northern Rangers, the reservists will gain skills that might later come in handy for Arctic sovereign missions or emergencies.

“It could be a community in need from being snowed in or stuck, or an airplane that goes down. It has many, many applications,” Papilion said, adding that a possibility of polar bears in their midst is a concern.

“We’re prepared for some of that. We’ll carry some weaponry, and live ammunition, just for protective purposes. We’ll be around some of the polar bears and everything else around there.”

Both of these men served several-month tours of duty with the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan in 2008 — the kind of sometimes mountainous, wintry environment in which Churchill training would be useful.

“When I got there,” Papilion said of Afghanistan, “it snowed for two days straight.”

Military deems air attack on Taliban a success

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Canada’s military commanders are heralding the largest air assault of the Afghan war as a success.

Col. Christian Drouin, the Canadian wing commander, says the mission went off without a shot being fired on either side.

Three Canadian Chinook helicopters and four Griffon choppers were part of a two-pronged assault on the Taliban strongholds of Marjah and Nad Ali district.

The Canadian aircraft helped ferry more than 1,000 coalition troops into Nad Ali.

Meanwhile, Canadian soldiers who train Afghan troops were in the town of Marjah with their pupils.

Col. Shane Brennan, who heads the mentoring program, says 34 Canadian army trainers worked with a kandak, or battalion, of 450 Afghan soldiers who searched houses just north of Marjah.

Brennan says none of the Canadian mentors or their Afghan pupils have been harmed so far in the offensive.

Military: Medal presented to parents of private killed in Afghanistan

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SAINT JOHN - Their final official visit to CFB Gagetown was a bittersweet one for Donnie and Laurie Greenslade.

Enlarge Photo Peter Walsh/Telegraph-JournalDonnie and Laurie Greenslade with the Sacrifice Medal. With them is Lily Faith, an Airedale that replaced Colby, their son David’s Airedale, which was euthanized in December. Last week, the couple received a Sacrifice Medal at a ceremony at the army base. The medal is given to soldiers wounded or killed in action.

It's been nearly three years since their only child Pte. David Greenslade died with five other soldiers in Afghanistan.

"Until this war ends, the active part of it, there's not going to be any real amount of peace," Laurie Greenslade said.

"Every day we wonder, will a soldier die today?"

David Greenslade, a 20-year-old private, was killed on Easter Sunday in 2007, along with five other soldiers, when a roadside bomb exploded as they drove through a maze of irrigation ditches in Afghanistan.

The medal marked a solemn milestone for the Greenslades.

"For us it's the final trip to Gagetown," Laurie Greenslade said. "It's great to have - sorry to have it."

Greenslade, her voice cracking, said the medal is special. It's the final thing, she said.

"I'm very proud of David," she said. "Who would ever think I would raise a hero?"

Brig. Gen. David Naismith presented the medal to the Greenslades and a number of other families.
"I could tell when I looked in General Naismith's eye's, the sincerity of him recognizing the sacrifice," Greenslade said.

Their son's beloved Airedale terrier, Colby, was euthanized in December because of a brain tumour. Published pictures of David Greenslade with his pet, who he called the horse, brought comments from across the country including Hockey Night in Canada's Don Cherry.

The new Airedale is called Lily Faith.

"It's for a little faith," Greenslade said.

Another Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan

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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A Canadian soldier has been killed during a training accident northeast of Kandahar City.

The death of Cpl. Joshua Caleb Baker brings to 140 Canadian soldiers and two civilians who have been killed in Canada's eight-year mission in Afghanistan. The military offered few details about Baker's death other than to say it happened during a routine training exercise.

"This type of training is normal for soldiers in theatre and essential in helping them to maintain high levels of expertise," Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard, the top commander in Kandahar, said in a statement.

An investigation into Baker's death is now underway to determine what caused the accident.

An Edmonton native, Baker, 24, was serving with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment.

Menard said Baker had a laugh that lightened up any room.

"Joshua had a laugh rumoured to cure cancer," he said.

"No matter where you were or how down you got, his laugh would find your ears and bring a smile to your face."

Menard described Baker as an "extremely passionate" person who loved his job.

"Joshua was mentally tough, physically robust and had a personality that made him a natural leader," he said.

"He had a deep love for his family and worried constantly about them. He also had a deep love for his faith; it was something he took pride in and that gave him strength."

News of the soldier's death came as Canadian troops were taking part in the largest air assault of the Afghan war in neighbouring Helmand province.

American, British, Afghan and other coalition troops stormed the insurgent-held town of Marjah and the district of Nad Ali early Saturday morning.

Three Canadian Chinook helicopters were helping ferry some 1,100 coalition troops to Nad Ali, under the watch of four Canadian Griffon escorts.

The pre-dawn attack is called Operation Moshtarak - meaning "together" in Dari - and it is by far the largest offensive staged since U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to send 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan to try to quell a spreading insurgency.

Drunk soldier drove 10-tonne truck in P.E.I.

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CHARLOTTETOWN – A New Brunswick soldier has pled guilty to driving a 10-tonne truck while under the influence in Charlottetown, P.E.I..

Master Cpl. Sean Maynard Manser, 22, a military driving instructor normally stationed at CFB Gagetown, was in Charlottetown to give driving lessons to soldiers.

After work on Nov. 29, he climbed into his military truck at the Charlottetown Armoury and crashed into several other vehicles.

Nobody was injured, but the collision reportedly cost thousands in damages.

Manser pled guilty to impaired driving Thursday, and is set to appear in

court on April 12 to be sentenced.

Book to be published about colonel accused of murder

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Publishing company Random House has set to release a book on Col. Russell Williams, the air force colonel accused of killing two women and sexually assaulting two others.

Police in Halifax said, Wednesday, they are looking into a possible connection between Williams and three unsolved murders that occurred in 1992, when Williams was stationed at CFB Shearwater, in Nova Scotia.

The book is set for publication in the fall and will be titled ``Betrayal in Uniform: The Secret Life of Colonel Russell Williams.''

Williams has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Cpl. Marie-France Comeau and Jessica Lloyd.

Colonel accused in two murders reportedly a university pal of Paul Bernardo

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Police will continue to comb through the Ottawa home of murder suspect Col. Russell Williams for a second day, Friday.

There are also reports police will be checking into a possible connection between Williams and convicted school girl killer Paul Bernardo.

Police sources told the Toronto Sun not only did Williams and Bernardo both attend the University of Toronto Scarborough campus in the 1980s, but that they were "pals" and partied together.

That friendship is being examined by police and there's speculation the two may have competed with each other, although the source did not say exactly what that means.

Meanwhile, the Globe and Mail reported the women allegedly killed by the former commander of CFB Trenton were asphyxiated.

Sources told the Globe 27-year-old Jessica Lloyd was strangled by her killer as the ultimate crime in a "bizarre escalation" of behaviour.

Corp. Marie-France Comeau, 38, was also asphyxiated, but detectives don't think her death was intentional.

The "escalation" theory actually casts doubt on growing speculation Williams might be linked to other cold cases.

New commander named at CFB Trenton, Ont., to replace Col. Williams

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OTTAWA - A replacement has been appointed to take over as commander of CFB Trenton, Ont., after Col. Russell Williams was charged this week with murder and sexual assault.

Lt.-Col. Dave Cochrane was been selected to take command of the base as of Friday, when he was promoted to the rank of colonel. The announcement came from Lt.-Gen. Andre Deschamps, the chief of air staff.

Cochrane takes over from Lt.-Col. David Murphy, who was designated acting commander on Monday, after Williams was charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of two eastern Ontario woman and the sexual assaults of two others.

Cochrane grew up in Toronto and enrolled in the Canadian Forces in 1982.

He was first posted to Trenton in 1988 and has also served overseas and in other Canadian locations since then.

"I believe Col. Cochrane has the exceptional leadership qualities necessary to lead 8 Wing Trenton at this challenging and critical time, as the Canadian Forces are experiencing an unprecedented operational tempo," said Deschamps in a statement.

"He is a highly experienced, trustworthy and capable commander who is well known in the local community, as are his wife and children. He is a respected member of the air mobility community and has my utmost confidence."