Posted on 05/10/2005 10:30:49 AM PDT by knighthawk
Parade goers draped in Maple Leaf offer veterans unflagging gratitude
Elsewhere in Holland, it was Moeder Dag - Mother's Day. Elsewhere in Europe, it was VE Day, the 60th anniversary of the momentous Allied victory. But here in the heart of the country battle-weary Canadian troops wrestled from German occupiers in the spring of 1945, yesterday was emphatically, even ostentatiously, Canada Day.
Market squares were draped in Canadian flags strung like pennants from trees and lampposts. Three-dimensional Canadian-flag decorations were pounded into the lawns of suburban homes like Christmas displays. The Maple Leaf snapped on flagpoles above storefronts.
Scores more large Canadian flags formed a canopy over more than 1,300 old Canadian soldiers parading through the city streets, applauded and cheered by the estimated 200,000 forming a joyously raucous crowd surging along either side of the two-kilometre parade route.
"Thank You Boys!" was the message emblazoned on printed Canadian flags, full pages torn from Dutch newspapers that had been taped in front windows all over town.
The "boys" in this case are in their 70s and 80s, but the signs weren't the least ironic. Responding to the reception of their grateful hosts, the boys (and girls - not quite all the old soldiers here are men), riding atop old military vehicles, waved and mugged like schoolchildren. Some others walked the route, accepting floral tributes, kisses and the occasional can of Heineken, exchanging high-fives and posing for pictures.
There is nothing in Canada's circumscribed ceremonial remembrance of the Second World War to match the joyous street party that jives to the rhythm of military bands every five years in Apeldoorn. The Apeldoorn parade is the giddy culmination of a week of hearty celebrations and sombre commemoration that the Dutch host every five years to honour their Canadian liberators.
The parade watchers gathered in the sun, sang through the rain, ignored the hail. They sat in lawn chairs, filled bleachers, and climbed on stepladders. Nothing would stop them from seeing the Canadians. From thanking the Canadians.
Pascal Byvank had arrived early with her children, Patrick, 11, Wim, 7, and 2-year-old Wilma, who watched the festivities wide-eyed. Their mother says she learned about the liberators from her father and grandfather, and now she makes sure her children know of "the courage of those who came to help us."
Nine-year-old Dominique de Vree was dressed in camouflage fatigues and sitting with his homemade banner, a large strip of something that might have been liberated from his mother's linen closet. Decorated with his drawings of tanks, jeeps and planes, it was hand-painted in dripping red letters: "Thank You Liberators."
"For the Canadese," Dominique explained.
His mother, Maja, also had something for the Canadese: dozens of peach-coloured roses, each bearing a hand-lettered card of thanks. Many others along the route had similar gifts; the veterans were flower-laden by the end of the parade.
Frits and Coby van der Wart of Surrey, B.C., were back in their homeland for the parade, waving flags and remembering the liberation that was the highlight of their childhoods in The Hague and Amsterdam.
"It was a big deal with lots of parties and lots of festivities," said Frits van der Wart, 70.
It was a big deal and quite a party in Apeldoorn as well, but organizers say this parade could be the last. The "boys" are getting older; five years from now, there may be too few capable of returning to Holland to make it feasible. But the events will certainly never be cancelled for lack of Dutch enthusiasm.
"There is nobody on Earth as hospitable as the Dutch people are to Canadians," said Ottawa's Hallie Sloan, 87, a former nursing sister who counts herself as just one of boys.
"It's uncanny. It's hard to believe after all these years and years and years, they still come out and welcome us with all their hearts."
But the fact that Canada's veterans are feted with more energy in Holland than at home
doesn't surprise or even concern Sloan, who served in the 600-bed 8th Canadian General Hospital at Nijmegen, 50 kilometres south of Apeldoorn. The hospital admitted 18,000 casualties during the Canadian army's 33-day push toward the Rhine alone.
"I think there's a difference. You have to remember that they were occupied for five years. We're fortunate - we've never suffered that. And I think that's why their gratitude is so extensive. But it's wonderful that they continue generation after generation; that's the magic," she said.
Ping
Every year, allied units send representative marching teams to participate in the four-day, 100 mile event through the countryside surrounding Nijmegen.
I was fortunate enough to participate two years in a row back in 1989 and 1990. It was a wonderful experience. People old and young were very appreciative of the sacrifices that our parents and grandparents made to liberate them.
The second year I was there, the USSR sent a team for the first time (I believe). We visited them in their encampment, and traded various trinkets.
I'm just old enough to remember when Canada had an Army.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.