Canada : No more half mast for our fallen soldiers??

www.canada.com Link

Ok, I find this quite disturbing. 4 of our fellow canadian soldiers were killed earlier this week in a roadside bombing in the middle east. Our government put a 'media ban' on the repatriation ceremony, which I can agree with. There are families there in there worst moment of grief, and I can understand wanting to protect them from the face of the world in their time of grief.....

BUT

Also there was a decision that the flag would no longer be flown at half-mast at Parliament hill when a Canadian soldier dies in the line of duty. This is just plain ignorance and disrespect for the lives lost in battle for the safety of our (and many other) countrys. Every Canadian should have the oppourtunity to salute that flag at half mast in honour of our fallen men and women that help make our world what it is today.

I will be flying my flag at half-mast for every canadian soldier that sacrifices his life for the good of their country.

- A Salute to our fallen Heros

Express your condolences Here for The 4 Fallen Soldiers

[edit on 25-4-2006 by jta79]

I agree with you jta79. The government shouldn't block that kindof news. Harper is way too pro American and I hate that . Wasn't it after he was elected that our troops were going to Aftghanistan?

You know its kind of ironic... I (unfortunatly I realize now) voted for Harper BECAUSE he wanted to increase Canada's military capacity, and quality of equipment because he respects the military... And this is the respect they get. And yes I can see where you can see that Harper is very pro american. If I wanted to live like an american, I would move to the United States... On my "proudness" list Being Canadian is number 2 trumped only by the proudness I have for my children. But I am proud that we have such a great country to raise our children in.

The reasoning behind NOT flying the Canadian flag at half mast is clear. But first you should consider this.....during WWII and the Korean War, Canada did not fly the flag at half mast then either. Why? Simple, because there were simply far too many war casualties to do so. The Canadian Flag would have been perpetually flying at half mast!

The decision not to fly the Canadian Flag at half mast can only mean one thing. The Canadian government expects many more casualties in the war in Afghanistan. Think about it.

Originally posted by benevolent tyrant
The reasoning behind NOT The Canadian Flag would have been perpetually flying at half mast!

Actually in a case like that, flying the flag perpetually at half mast would make perfect sence to me.

The decision not to fly the Canadian Flag at half mast can only mean one thing. The Canadian government expects many more casualties in the war in Afghanistan. Think about it.

You're probably right, but that just even more fallen heros that have gone unnoticed.

www.cbc.ca...

The article above gives a good explanation regarding the Flag issue.

Also the term half-mast originally was for flags being lowered on ships or vessels,
half-staff is the correct term for lowering flags that are on the ground.

I agree with the Royal Canadian Legion and The Veterans Association of Canada,
this was brought up in 2002 by the above groups, when they lowered the flag for the 'friendly fire incident' in Afganistan.

If the situation in Afganistan worsens, the lowering of the flag would become continuous, and as people become complacent with this, the honour and symbolism
of Rememberance Day, which honours all fallen soldiers, past, present and future
would stand a very good chance of being diminished.

Double post... sorry

[edit on 26-4-2006 by jta79]

Thank you for the terminology correction

I just can not help still feeling this way though. I am a second generation born Canadian, my family originated from a part of holland that was brutilly battered throughout WWII, and if it wasn't for the canadian soldiers posted where they were, there is a greatly HUGE chance that I would have never existed.

My grandmother tells me of many many storys about canadian soldiers going above and beyond their call of duty to help the victims of that war, while it lessened their already marginal quality of life at the time. (example, one soldier was handing out his food ration packs to the children of the village of Monster (where my family comes from), among many many other instances.

And I dont think that the honour of Rememberance Day will ever be diminished. Every day is rememberance day for me, for the reasons stated above, and also having family in the military, and always wanting to be part of the military. (between being a single father of 2, and a medical condition prevents me from doing so)

All were buried with full military honours, with flags draped over their coffins, and with the flags at Department of National Defence headquarters in Ottawa, and at their local bases lowered to half-mast in the time-honoured tradition for fallen warriors.

This made me feel alot better about the whole situation! Thanks for the insightful link!!!

We should follow proper flag-lowering procedure.

I can see why the Liberals wanted to lower it after the 'friendly'-fire incident, because it was Canada's first war casualties since Korea. It shouldn't have happened, but it was understandable.

I attend the Rememberance ceremonies every year, I don't think lowering the flag to often will ever diminsh it. What will diminish it is a lack of awareness by the younger generation of the sacrifices people made for this country and others.



PS. Not sure where I read this, but if we lowered the flag for 1 day for every Canadian soldier that was killed in action, we would be all caught up from WW1 and 2 in about 190 years.

[edit on 26-4-2006 by Duzey]

jta, I know what you mean. I do part time admin for a retired ww11 vet who is still very active with the Veterans Association.

After some of the vets initially complained a few years ago 2002, they also came to accept this but the issue was raised again over PTE Braun Woodfield. This is an excerpt from an article but having a hard time trying to link the article. Here's the quote:

Only Pte. Braun Woodfield, who died when his vehicle rolled over in November 2005, did not have those flags lowered in his honour. Glyn Berry, a diplomat killed in January who remains the only non-military Canadian casualty in Afghanistan, had the Peace Tower flag flown at half-mast in his memory.

I am trying to find out why. Was it not lowered because he wasn't killed in active duty? Because it was just a vehicle accident?. Anybody else know the answer to this?

I think the main concern over this issue is in regards to honouring all soldiers serving overseas in any capacity and not selecting a chosen few.

This Conservative government is in no way reflective of this issue to this regard, if anything, it has acted upon it's own measures. As a Canadian who abstained - I did not see a party that I could relate to, for those wondering - I still find that 'my' government has made a very poor decision and seems to dillusion the realities of war through this act. Soldiers were killed and will continue to be killed. This is a reality we cannot escape and it's a reality that we should also not condition ourselves to, conversely.

A freind of mine is serving and I would be aggitated if the mast was not pull down half mast in his honour, equally, I would be angered if the media did bar repatriation ceremonies.

I also may not agree with troops being stationed where they are, but it's utterly disrespectfull of the government to act as it has.

Luxifero

i dont think that they should lower the flag at the peacetower. it was never done before the previous liberals began doing it and i believe that was the reason of lowering it for rememberance day was to honour all soldiers.