Vimy Pilgrimage Award Blog – 9 April 2018

On the last day of the program, the 2018 Vimy Pilgrimage Award students visited the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, which was a very important and moving experience. The group visited the new Vimy Education Centre and participated in a ceremony commemorating the 101st anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge where Nupur and Thomas read the Commitment to Remember as Katie, Stephanie, and Shakil laid a wreath. Later in the day, they visited the Maison Blanche underground tunnels and the Canadian Cemetery No.2. (Please note: participants will blog in their language of preference.)

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[7:54 am] Sarah: We’re on our way to Vimy and I can’t wait to experience such an important Canadian Memorial.

 

[8:10 am] Lloyd: Walking up to the monument in silence, with the structure being slowly uncovered by the fog as we moved closer- there was a definitive feeling of awe, indescribable by words.

 

[8:11 am] Amy: In an instant, only mere metres away, a looming outline of the Vimy memorial came into view. Even though the silence and fog remained constant, I could feel my heart begin to pound in my chest as I slowly climbed the first steps of the monument.

 

[8:23 am] Christophe: L’immersion totale dans les sphères psychologiques les plus intimes de ceux qui ont subi la guerre, soit à travers la commémoration de leurs histoires, l’exploration de lieux qui ont marqué leur conscience ou l’admiration du silence solennel aux pieds de cet énorme monument, fut l’une des expériences les plus touchantes pour nous tous.h

 

[9:12 am] Montaña: Seeing my soldier Acil today dug trenches in the pits of my heart that I cannot see myself mounting any time soon.

 

[9:27 am] Rohan: Though I am no way related to Private Milne, I felt as if he was a close member of my family that I had known for years while I read my poem to him at the Vimy Memorial.

 

[10:18 am] Osose: We’re about to go into the Vimy tunnels and I am very excited to see those.

 

[10:33 am] Bethany: Outside of the Vimy tunnels, I met someone from Chilliwack, my hometown, who heard about my pilgrimage. I am so happy to have felt the experience of everyone from around the world coming to Vimy and having been lucky enough to meet.

 

[1:37 pm] Stephanie: Though stone littered the floor, rusted nails stuck out from the walls, and grenades lay idle on the ground, emerging from the dark tunnels of Maison Blanche was the art, personality, and stories of generations.

 

[1:42 pm] Jeriann: I had an amazing time seeing all of the soldiers’ and miners’ graffiti in the Maison Blanche tunnels. I was looking forward to this since the beginning of the program, and it has exceeded all of my expectations.

 

[2:14 pm] Thomas: D’ici quelques minutes, j’irai lire la promesse de se souvenir; quelle honneur !

 

[2:49 pm] Shakil: Staying outside in the rain, preparing to lay the wreath, the only thing running through my mind is the endless cold and rain that a soldier of the First World War had to go through.

 

[4:13 pm] Kiana: The Vimy Ceremony was a very meaningful experience. It was beautiful and I feel like everything that I felt, learned, experienced and saw all culminated in that procession. I have never felt prouder to be Canadian.

 

[4:17 pm] Laurissa: Je n’ai jamais vue une cérémonie de souvenir aussi grande et émouvante. Je suis très chanceuse d’avoir eu la chance de voir une telle cérémonie, et je m’en rappellerai toujours.

 

[4:47 pm] Nepur: Reading the Commitment to Remember, I was proud and humbled to play a part in the ceremony and do my part to honour the contributions and sacrifices of Canadian soldiers.

 

[5:24 pm] Katie: The world is a pretty small place… and sometimes you have to go to the other side of the globe to realize it. I was one of the three, along with Shaq and Stephanie, to lay a wreath at the Vimy Memorial. After hearing my last name announced, Barry C. Quinn (Justice of the Peace of Ontario) came to talk to me. It was quite an experience.

 

[5:42 pm] Julia: Getting to see my great-grandfather’s cousin in the Aix-Noulette Cemetery was an amazing, emotional, and life-changing experience.

 

[6:01 pm] Markus: I gained a new perspective on the importance of honouring our soldiers’ sacrifice and bringing their message to the modern world.

 

[9:04 pm] Damien: Le programme a pris tout son sens aujourd’hui, quand le mémorial de Vimy s’est dévoilé à nous, sous la pluie et la brume, comme hors du temps, une vision irréelle qui nous a rappelé que tout ce que nous avons fait lors de la dernière semaine nous ramène finamelemtn à ce pourquoi nous nous sommes engagés dans cette aventure au départ: c’est vraiment un pèlerinage, pour Vimy, vers Vimy.
[9:14 pm] Léa-Jade: Un mot : Reconnaissant ! займы на карту