Vimy a shameful day of bad planning
Re: Vimy 100 — Veterans Affairs apologizes, Dec. 13.
It is absolutely inconceivable that Veterans Affairs senior management was blissfully unaware until now of what a catastrophe Vimy 100 was for the people who paid thousands of dollars to be there.
It was so bad, my wife and I (correctly) predicted the gong show that would happen after the service and decided to leave before it started. We were not allowed to. We were told we must stay inside the fences until all dignitaries had been removed safely, for security reasons.
I lost a loud argument with a French soldier holding a loaded machine gun and lay down at the gate in protest. Oddly enough, as soon as the prime minister’s speech was over, we were allowed out, mid-ceremony. Draw your own conclusions.
Although first out of the gate, we still had a two-hour wait, standing in a crush of people. All of us being Canadian, it was uncomfortable but orderly. My and my wife and I got separated, but nice people worked hard to get us back together. As we left on one of the first buses, we looked out at the endless sea of poor souls and wondered when they might get home that night.
One failed bank of porta potties does not explain the poor video, poor audio and lack of any food or drink other than a bottle-filling station. A shameful display of poor management all around.
Sorry, Gramps: you fought hard for that land, and I wanted to be there for you. What should have been a memory for a lifetime became a nightmare we won’t forget. Jeffrey Dornan, Manotick
We noticed some teenage girls on top of the wall, next to the Mourning Woman, taking photographs, selfies and joking about falling off. I found this extremely disrespectful and was upset and angry, as this is sacred ground for all Canadians. Cynthia Sutcliffe