Nova Scotia Honours Canada's Unknown Soldier
Premier John Hamm honoured Canada's unknown soldier at a ceremony today at Province House.
One-quarter of Canadians who died fighting in the wars of the 20th century rest in unknown graves, but there has been no specific memorial to them in this country. Next month, a Canadian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier will be dedicated at the National War Memorial in Ottawa.
"We stand in awe of their sacrifice," Premier Hamm said. "We stand in gratitude of their service. And we bow to their memory so their names will live for evermore."
The premier praised the Royal Canadian Legion for initiating the Canadian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. More than 112,000 Canadians died in the wars of the past 100 years. He explained 27,000 Canadians rest under tombstones reading simply "Known Only Unto God" or are in watery graves under the sea.
During the ceremony, Premier Hamm presented the Legion with soil collected from 15 regions around the province. It will be interred in the Tomb with the remains of an unknown Canadian soldier repatriated from the vicinity of the Vimy battlefield. Clarence Dawe, provincial president of the Nova Scotia Command of the Royal Canadian Legion, will bring the soil to the Ottawa ceremony.
"It will be my honour to carry this soil and to inter it in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier," he said. "And I thank you for that honour."
The Royal Canadian Legion's proposal for a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was welcomed by other veteran's groups and by government. The remains of the unknown soldier will be repatriated from the vicinity of the Vimy battlefield and will lie in state for public commemoration from May 26 to May 27. On Sunday, May 28, the remains will be taken to the National War Memorial in a solemn funeral procession escorted by a thousand veterans and members of the Canadian Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The funeral procession and the committal service will be one of the most significant ceremonial events in the nation's capital since the end of the Second World War.