Veterans Week 2009 and Remembrance Day

Bumped to the top for Remembrance Day. New posts below.

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The official site at Veterans Affairs Canada. A listing of events across the country here, and a map.

Update: From the Royal Canadian Legion website:

• Remembrance Day
  • First World War ends on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month
  • Legion pushes for Armistice Day Act to be amended ensuring that November 11th be the one distinct observance that the nation pay tribute to those "who gave their lives that freedom might prevail"
  • "Remembrance Day", a sacred trust of The Royal Canadian Legion, ensures the memory of the sacrifice of those who fell with the appropriate marking of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month
  • 1970—Remembrance Day is included in "The Holidays Act"
    
  • 2005 as Year of the Veteran was accepted and instituted by the Government of Canada through a continued effort by the Legion to educate the Canadian people
    
    
• National War Memorial
  • National War Memorial design by Vernon March selected in 1925 from an international competition
  • Memorial's components were made over 10 year period in Kent, England by March, his brothers and sister who finished the work in 1932, after Vernon March's death in 1930—none had sculptural training
  • Made up of a granite arch atop which stand Victory and Liberty in bronze, marching through the arch are 22 figures representing all branches of the armed forces of the First World War symbolically leaving an unlimbered cannon behind
  • Originally displayed and admired in Hyde Park, London and broken down into component parts and shipped in 35 containers for the sea voyage from England in 1937
  • Unveiled in Ottawa by King George VI in May 1939 with 100,000 spectators and since then has been the site of the national Remembrance Day Ceremony
    
    
• Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
  • at the base of the memorial is the consecrated Tomb of the Unknown Soldier where the remains of an unknown soldier from the Vimy area of France were entombed on 28 May, 2000.
  • a millennium project of the Legion along with the "2 Minute Wave of Silence"; both projects designed to increase awareness of Canada's contributions...

The Poppy Campaign:

Conducted each year for about 2 weeks prior to November 11th in order to raise funds for needy Canadian veterans, ex-service members and their dependants, as well as Commonwealth veterans

Poppies, provided for public and personal display, are distributed for donations which are not mandatory; in some cases (school children), the poppies are distributed solely to perpetuate Remembrance without remuneration

Intention of the Poppy Campaign is to remind Canadians of the sacrifice of the 117.000 Canadians who died in the military, Merchant Navy and Ferry Command in two world wars, the Korean War and other theatres globally

Donations received from the Poppy Campaign are put into trust accounts and used accordingly to assist needy veterans, ex-service members, their families and former members of Commonwealth and allied military services

First made in 1922, poppy emblem production by disabled veterans was sponsored by the Department of Soldiers Civil Re-establishment in VAC sheltered workshops, presently (from 1996) the work is being done by a private company

18 million poppies, 70,000 wreaths, crosses and sprays distributed annually

More than $8million distributed annually

Activities supported by Poppy Trust Funds include: assisting needy veterans, ex-service members and their families; purchasing medical appliances; funding medical research and training, providing bursaries to the children and grandchildren of veterans and ex-service members; and funding accommodation, care facilities, meals-on-wheels, transport and related services for veterans, seniors and disabled persons

More:

• History
• Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae
• The Flower of Remembrance
• A Symbol of Unity
• The Lapel Poppy

...

Upperdate: Three songs (via Frank Godon, see his comment, who will be at Juno Beach November 11 with his father--note this story, "Metis vets finally get their due: D-Day warriors will dedicate monument at Juno Beach museum"):