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Article content The image was both striking and stirring: More than 22,600 colourful mini-flags dotted the graveside markers at Pointe-Claire’s National Field of Honour, this country’s largest military cemetery for Canadian and Allied veterans and their immediate families. The cemetery grounds couldn’t have been more pristine. The occasion was a Sunday afternoon ceremony honouring Canada’s war dead shortly before the 80th anniversary of D-Day, commemorating the Allied landings on the beaches of Normandy, which marked the beginning of the end of the Second World War.

More than a million Canadians and Newfoundlanders served in the war, which took the lives of over 45,000 Canadians and left more than 55,000 wounded. Under a glorious but baking sun, a host of politicians and an ever-diminishing handful of Second World War vets were present to hear guest of honour Michel Miraillet, France’s ambassador to Canada, and others pay tribute to our soldiers for their service. A military band played the French and Canadian national anthems.



There was the solemn laying of wreaths. There was even a vintage artillery vehicle on hand that landed in Normandy during the invasion. And shattering the serenity of the day were blasts from a howitzer, serving as a harsh reminder of the sounds of war.

Among vets and their family members attending the ceremony were former Canadian ambassador to Algeria and Greece Bob Peck and former Canadian ambassador to Indonesia and the Philippines Peter .

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