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On Keith's travels, he visited 3 aspects of World War II. D-Day landing on Juno Beach, Auschwitz Concentration Camp, and the H-Bomb on Hiroshima, he shared his thought and photo montage.... "Nov 11th should not be the only day to recognize, acknowledged and appreciate those who made sacrifices during wartime. War was terrible for both military and civilians, impacting everyone in the most profound way. Lives were lost, many severely injured and millions upon millions of people endured suffering and hardship. Remembrance day itself does focus on the men and women who went to war, to fight for their country. Just for one example, Canadians took part on an assault of beaches in Normandy, a thrust to liberate Europe. History speaks of terrible conditions, immense defenses and heavy enemy fire. Heavy losses resulted, but Canadians did secure a beach-head and made their way inland to gain more foothold. 4,414 Canadians took part that day and 359 died. Our forces are much admired and fondly remembered for their heroics that day, and the days that followed to liberate Europe.
Today we also spent a few minutes on Auschwitz, a concentration death camp near Krakow, Poland as well as the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan. Our power point programme brushed through only a few slides telling of the misery, brutal treatment of humans and the mass slaughter of Jewish and political prisoners during the time of Nazi Germany. There were also a few slides speaking to the mass destruction and horrific consequences of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Aug 6, 1945.
Images from these 3 aspects of WWII serve to bring us pause, time to reflect about how human kind can be so cruel to others. These are only 3 aspects of this war. There are countless others, in Russia, Italy, China, Burma, England.....and the list goes on and on, and of the many wars through history. War is awful, yet we continue wars, fighting for our causes and our territories. At least, we can stop for a moment to appreciate what we have, the air we breathe, food we eat, homes, cars, possessions, families, friends, travel....all because of the actions of those that preceded us. For those we offer Remembrance." Members also shared their thoughts on this important day, and through Rotary service and program, how we can promote peace and foster understanding. For those missed the meeting and like to see the presentation, please contact us and we can send you the link.
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