Posts with the 116th Ontario Battalion tag

Barris Beat

Silence is not an option

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, March 26, 2024. India TV.

Instincts cannot be unlearned. Early last Tuesday morning (March 26), a retired chief of the Baltimore fire department was wakened when he heard rumbling and felt his house shake. He lives a short distance from the Patapsco River. He said the experience “felt like an earthquake.”

Interviewed by The Associated Press in the U.S., former firefighter Donald Heinbuch explained that instinct told him to drive to toward the unearthly sound. Then, he described what he saw. “The (container) ship was there, and the bridge was in the water – like it was blown up.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Warriors’ invisible battles

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Anita Anand, stressing the important role family plays in treating PTSD.

It was a morning dedicated to dealing with invisible wounds among veterans. It brought together former soldiers and first responders who are coping with trauma, support groups trying to help them, and politicians finding workable solutions to post-traumatic stress disorder in Canada.

Among the first to speak, Anita Anand, the minister of national defence, climbed the podium steps on Tuesday to address the gathering. She paused, scanned the faces of those present and offered a personal note.

“This is a difficult time for the military community,” she said. “I wish to recognize and remember officer cadets Jack Hogarth, Andrei Honciu, Broden Murphy and Andres Salek.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Of war presidents, losers and suckers

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Aisne-Marne American Cemetery

Just northeast of Paris, France, lies a small wooded hill. The few acres of green have been peaceful for most of the last century. Aisne-Marne American Cemetery resides here. It’s home to the memorial stones of 2,289 war dead, mostly Americans. A few hundred yards down the hill, 102 years ago, a great battle raged here.

Near the start of it, French troops found themselves overwhelmed by a charging enemy. In March 1918, the German Army had launched its largest offensive, that it hoped would drive the Allies into the sea and deliver them victory in the Great War. On June 2, 1918, a retreating French soldier is alleged to have shouted to arriving U.S. troops:

“Withdraw! Withdraw! We are overrun!”

Historians tell us, in that moment, Lloyd Williams, a young Marine captain from Virginia, shouted back, “Retreat? Hell, we just got here!” (more…)