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In June of this year the government passed legislation designating August 9th as National Peacekeepers' Day to honour the thousands of Canadians in the armed forces and police services who have served on UN and other peacekeeping missions.

Previously, different

groups had selected different dates to commemorate their service and sacrifices--for some years ceremonies had also been conducted in late October. However, August 9th was chosen to commemorate the date in 1974 when nine members serving with the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) were killed when their aircraft was destroyed by a missile over Syria--the greatest single loss of Canadian peacekeepers. (I remember from my War Museum tour guide days that a fragment of the plane was in the museum to serve as a reminder)

Since 1948 Canadians have served in dozens of areas. Some of them, such as Cyprus and the Middle East, involved thousands of forces members and police officers, while in others only one or two Canadians took part. Lester Pearson received the Nobel Peace Prize after the UNEF was established. During their service, a number of Canadians received bravery awards--proof that "peacekeeping" had its perils. Over the years, more than 200 Canadian peacekeepers have given their lives.

Ceremonies were held in a number of cities on August 9th The principal event, attended by Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson, took place at the Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa. (Sadly, some time ago, this memorial, like too many others, had been desecrated by graffiti.) Mr. Thompson stated: "Each one of our peacekeepers has made a real and lasting difference in defending our shared values of freedom, democracy and the rule of law."

Every year on November 11th, the proportion of war medals to peacekeeping medals displayed decreases. The time is approaching for the peacekeeping veterans to carry the torch on our behalf. We salute them!