A closer look at Canadian military history

Justine was one of the many travellers who commemorated the 100-year anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. We caught up with her to hear more about her experience on tour.

I come from a military family. We lived in Germany for five years, and most of the sites we visited on the tour, I visited while we were living in Europe. My parents, brother, and I would go on day trips or longer road trips all over Western Europe and many of these excursions were to military battlefields, monuments, and cemeteries.

What made this trip different was going with a lot of other people from different walks of life. I found it very interesting to get to know people. I enjoyed hearing their stories—especially the ones from our

wonderful Tour Director—and experiencing these sites from their perspective. Their thoughts and discussions on what we were seeing often helped me see and appreciate the sites in new ways. There is a lot we can learn from these stories, not the least of which is that it so “easily” happened before; it can happen again. Visiting the sites where it all happened is a way to remember and respect those men and women who died serving their country, and the civilians caught in the line of fire.