Museum of the Regiments

We're on spring break this week, doing family field trips. On Tuesday we went to the Museum of the Regiments, which is one we haven't done before. The museum is organized by regiment, and each regiment gallery is organized chronologically. There was also a special exhibit honoring the 90th anniversary of Vimy Ridge. I was impressed with how current the museum was - there was information as up to date as 2006.


During our visit to the museum I learned about the role Canadian forces play in the removal of landmines. It was a Canadian company that designed and developed the spider boot to protect the feet and legs of mine clearance personnel from an accidental blast. Jaclyn commented that maybe the boot would save your leg, but it would still be frightening to detonate a landmine and have it blow a spider leg off the boot.





There were a few interactive displays for the kids:

Chloe flying a plane.

Chloe entertaining the troops.

Carmen in a bomb shelter within a life size replica of WW I trenches.


The truth is, the visit to the military museum was sobering.

Appropriately, there were many memorials.

Jaclyn came home and wrote a poem:

The Valor Remembered

War is the bravery to set people free -

The courage that beckons to millions like me.

The valor remembered.

The horror of watching a lone person die -

And knowing it will make many more cry.

The valor remembered.

The giving of innocent, unfulfilled life -

Giving to end all the turmoil and strife.

The valor remembered.

The saving of children, to grow up in peace -

The millions that help all the anger to cease.

The valor remembered.

The individuals striving to give it their all -

Making an army we later recall.

The valor remembered.

The saving of seperate, different race -

The bringing of safety to thoses who embrace

The valor remembered.

The deaths of their sons that made mothers then weep -

Their legacy, memory, and image to keep.

The valor remembered.

The nations that can hold their heads way up high -

The flags they unfurl against their bright blue sky.

The valor remembered.