Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Silvia Senna

D-DAY anniversary

‘If we don’t remember, we will repeat our mistakes’; Kamloops Legion holds ceremony to honour 80th anniversary of D-Day

Jun 7, 2024 | 6:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — June 6th marked 80 years since the Second Wold War’s ‘Operation Overlord’ – also known as D-Day. The invasion was the largest air, naval and land operation in history. The goal was to liberate northwest Europe from nazi domination and, ultimately, defeat Hitler.

“We need to do everything we can to remember the freedoms that we enjoy, remember why we have the freedoms that we enjoy and the remember the cost, because we never want to have that type of a cost again,” said Gordon Sands, executive at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 52.

“If we don’t remember, we will repeat our mistakes, it’s as simple as that. We have to remember those that gave their lives for freedom. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t probably know where we would be,” added Daniel Martin, President of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 52.

The Legion was created to support the veterans who came home from World War I.

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“A lot of veterans came back with many different issues and they didn’t really have a place to go at that time. So the Legion was born in England first and then and here,” Martin explained. “It’s been helping veterans ever since.”

“That’s actually the reason that the Legion exists, it’s so that veterans can come and have a common place to come and share their story,” Sands said. “Many people don’t understand what we’ve been through and what we’ve experienced and too many bear that burden in silence.”

Looking forward, there will always be hope for a brighter future.

“The hope is for a war free world. Is it likely to happen? No, but that does not mean that we give up the fight for that and the fight for our freedom,” said Sands.

For now, we must remember that freedom is not free.

“We must, as individuals, community and nation and organizations such as the Legion, take every opportunity to reflect, teach, remember and honor the memory of all those who fought during every conflict against evil. We must remember those who gave all, so we enjoyed the freedoms that we do.”