I know I've mentioned numerous times that my father was a Dieppe veteran. He was with the Essex Scottish Regiment who landed at Red Beach. When I went to Dieppe in 2012 and we stood on that beach at 5:00 am looking out over the water I had such chills at imagining what they faced that morning.
When my father passed away, this was a condolence that was posted online, and it has stayed with me.
I met the Col. 34 years ago when I was a summer intern at Chrysler's Pillette Road van plant. One day, a co-worker asked him how old he was at Dieppe. Ian said he was 19. That was a sobering moment for me. Because I was 19. And likely incapable of enduring the trials he'd suffered. In the years that followed, our paths crossed several times. I came to know him as a man of grace and integrity and tremendous modesty. I am grateful for every minute I spent in his presence.
~
To all veterans, past and present, thank you for your service.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We Will Remember Them
We Will Remember Them
|