On the 8th of May, veterans in Ottawa celebrated the 70th anniversary of the end of the War in Europe in 1945. The day started with a breakfast at Ottawa City Hall for the veterans and was attended by the Minister of Veterans Affairs, Erin O’Toole. After the breakfast, the veterans were driven from City Hall to the National War Memorial in WWII vintage vehicles by military reenactors in town for this event.
The ceremony itself was held at the National War Memorial where the normal remembrance program was followed but music was provided by the Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands which consisted of 80 musicians from 14-20 years of age. After the ceremony, there was a march past by the military units on parade and then the veterans were bused off to lunch.
Following this ceremony, I went to Queen Juliana Park where the reenactors had set up camp. I talked to a few of the reenactors and looked at the vehicles and guns on display but was disappointed that their were no veterans to be seen. I guess they had other plans for today.
The most interesting thing today was a gentleman that I ran into by accident. His name is John Franken, a diminutive older gentleman in a wheelchair. His story is that he was a POW in the second war and spent part of the war in Nagasaki, Japan, in a POW camp doing forced labour. He was in Nagasaki on the 9th of August, 1945, when the atomic bomb was dropped on that city and he survived to come home and tell the story. I only wish I had more time to get the full story. Maybe it’s an opportunity it for me.
To see all the pictures CLICK HERE
