tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post7596356907428684200..comments2024-03-15T21:43:52.652-05:00Comments on City in the Trees: Dreaming of Home (Vimy Ridge rededication)Lone Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15746801663695992138noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-32975992004728274982009-11-14T17:28:59.492-05:002009-11-14T17:28:59.492-05:00I piped Remembrance Day for CENTCOM at MacDill Air...I piped Remembrance Day for CENTCOM at MacDill Air Force Base (Tampa, FL) this year with my Legion color guard. It was totally unlike any I've ever attended.<br />A German CPO with a trumpet opened the service with "Ich hatt' einen Kameraden"; <i>their</i> Lament; there were German officers in attendance wearing red poppies, (as hopeful a sign as I can imagine that humanity might actually have evolved, at least somewhat, from the time we first crawled out of a cave and discovered the utility of beating one another over the head with rocks and sticks). There were soldiers of Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Poland, Turkey, Kuwait, Egypt, Norway, Korea, and many others, all there for the same reason. After piping "Flowers of the Forest" in a light misty rain, a woman from the RCAF Band sang "I'm Dreaming of Home" as the ranking officers of Canada, Great Britain, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and France silently laid wreaths before the empty boots and helmet. You couldn't <i>possibly</i> hear those lyrics, with that voice, and see those wreaths before the empty boots without thinking and really <i>remembering</i> all of those, cold, hungry, frightened kids hunkered down in a wet muddy hole in the night somewhere, sometime, and knowing on a <i>deep</i> primal level that in the mud and darkness and blood, all of the uniforms look the same.Rowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04527020850575813026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-32089890297596912592009-02-01T06:34:00.000-05:002009-02-01T06:34:00.000-05:00It must have been wonderful to have been at the ce...It must have been wonderful to have been at the ceremony in France. To hear all these thousands of voices singing together, and to have been part of it. Anyone who was there must have been bursting with pride both in your armed forces and in your country.Janice Hutthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07568991230781407846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-65812032344370941862009-01-28T07:36:00.000-05:002009-01-28T07:36:00.000-05:00Thank you, Janice, it really is lovely. I remembe...Thank you, Janice, it really is lovely. I remember seeing that movie, and you're right, it is very moving to watch again. Europe finally has its act together (knock on wood), and hopefully there'll never been another war there.<BR/><BR/>Now we need to iron out things in the rest of the world...Lone Primatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15746801663695992138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-57879286864314844792009-01-27T08:08:00.000-05:002009-01-27T08:08:00.000-05:00http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=eJqK5Hd61skI hope yo...http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=eJqK5Hd61sk<BR/><BR/>I hope you can open this. It is beautiful.<BR/><BR/>JaniceJanice Hutthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07568991230781407846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-63511453452457279602007-08-15T17:45:00.000-05:002007-08-15T17:45:00.000-05:00Thank you for taking the time to post here, Master...Thank you for taking the time to post here, Master Corporal Boyd (gee, I can remember when my Dad was a Master Corporal...). :) And thank you for serving the country. I hope you and all our men and women in uniform will be home soon instead of dreaming about it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-2571617788772600492007-08-15T08:18:00.000-05:002007-08-15T08:18:00.000-05:00I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one deeply touch...I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one deeply touched by that song. I too was moved, almost to tears as were most of my colleagues standing alongside me. However, I blinked my eyes a bit and sniffled them back, as I didn't want to be crying while on parade.<BR/><BR/>I was in Column three, one of several soldiers who came to Vimy from all over Canada and was representing 4 Division, which sustained heavy loss of life in the fight to liberate the land I was standing on that day. I too, felt a deep swelling of Canadian pride as those Mirage jets flew over us. <BR/><BR/>Thank you for your kind words, I'm glad a few of the folks at home were deeply touched by that moment, as I and my colleagues were.<BR/><BR/>Thank you for remembering. It really does matter-and it always will.<BR/><BR/>Lest We Forget.<BR/><BR/>Cheers,<BR/><BR/>Steve<BR/><BR/>Master Corporal Steven Boyd<BR/>Canadian Forces Military Police<BR/>Vimy Ridge Memorial Anniversary<BR/>Canadian Contingent 2007<BR/><BR/>*currently deployed overseas, and yes, I'm dreaming of home.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11589050089497851235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-35429723223421997412007-06-28T23:07:00.000-05:002007-06-28T23:07:00.000-05:00I'm looking for the version of I'm Dreaming of Hom...I'm looking for the version of I'm Dreaming of Home, sung by men's chorus. Have only been able to find version by girl's chorus. Can you help with a www site or source of the music I may be able to download? Thanks. AlexisUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05061861938786614430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-73650260031206137702007-04-26T08:39:00.000-05:002007-04-26T08:39:00.000-05:00Okay, so I get a post from you telling me to get o...Okay, so I get a post from you telling me to get off my duff and post...and then when I do (three times in a week, no less!), you go AWOL for two weeks!<BR/>I even updated my linkies etc., which you might be interested in... ;o)<BR/>Come out, come out whereveryou are!m_o_o_nspellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17429851225319996303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-13893969157899296312007-04-24T21:25:00.000-05:002007-04-24T21:25:00.000-05:00What a wonderful post Arthur - I was there and the...What a wonderful post Arthur - I was there and the same feeling hit me as well. I thought the speeches were fine and I thought the last post and the violin were special - BUT then we heard voices. Who was singing and what was this song.<BR/><BR/>It was the band. As the song built with the children and then the soloist, we were all gripped. A French woman next to me began to sob and tears were just pouring every where. Then as the last notes faded - the jets boomed over at about 500 feet. The timing was impeccable.<BR/><BR/>It was so understated - so wonderfully Canadian. It was the single most moving group experience of my nearly 60 years.<BR/><BR/>Thank you again for such a wonderful way of telling your story - you have a real giftRobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14970451430628742800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-74476543692575923902007-04-13T19:31:00.000-05:002007-04-13T19:31:00.000-05:00I was there! And trust me - it was as moving as i...I was there! And trust me - it was as moving as it was on TV, if not more so. My school went, and I was one of the over 3000 students attending, who processed in at the beginning. I don't think I have ever felt as ridiculously proud of being Canadian as I was at that one single moment, when the Queen rededicated the memorial, and the crowd took up the national anthem. Nothing felt better than screaming it at the top of my lungs, and hearing over 3000 other voices joining with mine, drowning it out. I cried, my friends cried, my teachers cried - everywhere I looked, people's eyes were shining with pride and love for our men and our country.RubyGrailhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02257932218056223503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-16292443120194677612007-04-10T10:58:00.000-05:002007-04-10T10:58:00.000-05:00Hi, Arthur... I'm sorry, I don't actually have the...Hi, Arthur... I'm sorry, I don't actually have the means to do anything like that. I would surprised if you couldn't find the ceremony, or at least its highlights, archived on the CBC's website, though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-44321054543554134792007-04-10T10:36:00.000-05:002007-04-10T10:36:00.000-05:00Very moviong. Like you I could not see the progra...Very moviong. Like you I could not see the program as it happened - in my case I was in Florida and could not record it since Vimy is not a big thing down here. Is there any chance you could post your film of the ceremony so that it could be downloaded and enjoyed by others. I personally use torrent but any form of posting would do and I would work it out somehow.<BR/><BR/>Arthurearfleahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03803488140533400585noreply@blogger.com