I am Canadian!

Today at church, the rest hymn was "My Country 'tis of Thee". It made me mad. Literally. What is it about some Canadians that makes them unable to appreciate the difference between Canada and 'America'? I am afraid it is my opinion that "land of the Pilgrim's pride" does not refer to Canada. I cannot understand what singing an American patriotic anthem has to do with honoring fallen Canadian soldiers.

Here is the truth. The Americans entered the First Great War on April 6th, 1917 after the Lusitania was sunk by German submarines and Germany sent a message to Washington warning that any American ship in British or European waters would be a target. Canadian soldiers had been fighting in Europe since 1914. The Americans entered World War II on Dec 7, 1941, two years after the beginning of the war in Europe and as a result of a direct attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese - a full 2 years after the beginning of the war in Europe. In Canada, Americans were called 'dough boys' because they were needed and took much too long to 'rise'.

I point out these facts not to denigrate our American neighbors. I too hate war. It is cruel and the deaths are often pointless, like the story I heard this morning of one George Lawrence Craig, a Canadian soldier in France who was shot in the chest and killed at 10:58 on November 11, 1918, the last soldier to die in the war, two minutes before the Armistice took effect. Sometimes, in the end, war is justified by history, as in the case of World War II and the atrocities perpetrated on the people of Europe by Hitler and documented by soldiers freeing the people left in the concentration camps. I have a lot of sympathy for people who try at all cost to avoid war. It wrenches my heart every time a Canadian dies in Afghanistan. I fear that we will end up withdrawing and nothing, in the end, will be changed.

I point out the facts because Canadians need to be aware of the sacrifices made by other Canadians. We are not the United States, and if we are honoring our war dead, it is Canadians we honor. Singing an American patriotic anthem just does not do it. So why do people do this? I can think of only one reason - ignorance.