Absolutely magnificent.
Read the whole thing. These are a few of the beautiful sentences from the address.
“One owes respect to the living,” said Voltaire.
“To the dead, one owes only the truth.”
"We vowed never to forget."
"Look upward now, and against the sky see the bronze figures of Peace
and Freedom. Their arms are linked. They cannot be separated. Because
freedom without peace is agony, and peace without freedom is slavery,
and we will tolerate neither. This is the truth we owe our dead."
"And
now look down, to the resting place of a Canadian boy who died at Vimy
Ridge. We don’t know his name. He is our unknown soldier. In anonymity
he honours all Canadians who died and may yet die for their country."
"We will stand on guard for him and for them, as did Nathan Cirillo, who takes his place among them."
"We will strive for peace and for freedom, as did Patrice Vincent, who joins them also."
"As
Governor General and commander-in-chief of Canada, I have the solemn
privilege to stand with you and them today, just steps away from our
houses of Parliament – where we resolve our differences through dialogue
and the rule of law."
"We are people of peace. Of respect and tolerance, kindness and
honour. These qualities are alive in our national conscience precisely
because we hold them as precious.
"We have the luxury to do so because those we remember today believed those qualities to be precious enough to die for."
Added bonus:
In Israel, Sergeant-At-Arms Kevin Vickers given hero's welcome in Israel.
These are good, good men.
