Address by Gen. Walter Natynczyk

Lisa, thank you so much, but also thank you for the courage that you had of going into Afghanistan three times and telling the story of our soldiers, our sailors, our airmen and women, God bless you for what you do. (Applause)

Now I’ll say right up front, I agree with everything Leslie has ever said and ever thought. (Laughter) And I am so proud of her tonight because she had an incredible message tonight but through all the years of supporting not only me but all the other spouses and military families across the Canadian Forces, Leslie, thank you. (Applause)

Prime Minister Harper, thank you so much. Your very presence, your strong message tonight, there’s no doubt in having travelled with you into theatre, your sincere and strong support for the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces, thank you sir. (Applause)

Premier McGuinty, thank you sir for your leadership, thank you for hosting 15 families of the fallen yesterday in the Legislature and honouring and respecting their sacrifices. Sir, thank you. (Applause) I’d like to recognize my predecessor, General Rick Hillier and his wonderful wife Joyce who shaped our success and had the vision to create the Military Family Fund. Rick, thank you so much. (Applause)

Right up front ladies and gentlemen, I want to recognize those who brought us in here tonight who worked so hard for the success of this event and I’m talking about Shaun Francis, who exactly a year ago (applause) met me and said he had a vision, had a vision, having discussed this with Rick Hillier the year before to have this gala event. And if I could have Shaun and the entire board of the True Patriot Love, please stand up and please accept our sincere thanks. God bless you. (Applause) I’d also like to thank the leaders of industry and corporate Canada, especially based here in Toronto for all of your work to shape and support and enable the Canadian Forces. Many of you provide the hardware, the software and the support services that ensure for our operational success and enable us to come home safely. You even provide us our favourite coffee beverage, no names, no pack frill. Ron Joyce. (Laughter) (applause)

But I also like to thank Maple Leaf Entertainment has been a true leader in hosting the Canadian Forces to Leaf and Raptor games. You know my favourite teams, that is personal and private information. But I’ve adopted a phrase, love the one you’re with. (Laughter) It doesn’t apply to my love life, but go Leafs go. (Laughter) (applause) and I tell you what, I try to be the leader of the Canadian Forces but the soldiers, sailors, airmen and women, they just want to know about Don Cherry. (Laughter) (applause)

Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we recognize the outstanding service to Canada by our men and women in uniform and their families. You know, we who wear the uniform, we all walked in a recruiting centre on our own volition. But it’s our spouses, our spouses who were drafted. It’s our spouses that when they married us, they didn’t know what they signed up to, but they got drafted into this outfit. But we appreciate their love, their support and their care. And in this week of remembrance, we celebrate our veterans, our veterans who trained us, our veterans who showed us the way, who showed us what right looks like. And we remember those who went overseas and made the supreme sacrifice so that we in Canada could live in peace. And we are very fortunate tonight to have with us many distinguished veterans including Flight Lieutenant Arthur Bishop, veteran pilot of the Second World War. He flew Spitfires and the son of Billy Bishop, Victoria Cross. Sir, please stand up. (Applause)

To all our veterans, your legacy is seen in the faces of today’s new veterans. I say frequently that the Canadian Forces are second to none. Man for man, woman for woman, unit for unit, we don’t take a back seat to anyone. (Applause) And you heard the term tonight from Trevor Greene, we’re a professional force of warriors, a force that can fight for peace, a force for good. And that is the veteran’s legacy. You’ve already heard tonight about Master Corporal Jody Mitic from the Army. I just want to introduce you to a few other heroes.

This past summer, we’re up in the Arctic, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Minister MacKay. And we’re aboard Her Majesty’s Canadian submarine, the Corner Brook, one of our submarines. And I’d like to recognize someone who’s on that submarine and if leading seaman Stephanie Russell would please stand up. Where are you Stephanie? Show, show your hand. (Applause) Where are you? There you are. Stephanie is one of four female submariners in the Canadian Forces, indeed one of the few in the entire world. (Applause) This lady is a strong woman warrior and all of us are proud of you. Thank you Stephanie. (Applause)

I’d like to introduce you to a search and rescue technician, Warrant Officer Andrew McLean. Where are you Andrew? Stand up please. (Applause) Where are you? There he is. Now Warrant Officer McLean has taken up the responsibility to support our wounded soldiers like Master Corporal Jody Mitic. He’s leading a program called Soldier On. His group is focused on using sports to enable the rehabilitation of our wounded soldiers like Trevor Greene and if they wish, to have an Olympic dream. And I tell you, he’s accompanied by a young lady, Harley, the daughter of his best, best friend, Corporal Troy Durocher, who’s currently deployed in Kandahar. This is military family supporting military family. Well done. (Applause)

Now I brought in someone here today who’s really special because if you look, saw the Globe and Mail today, you read about the event. You know, this morning, you saw a story about the courageous and daring rescue by the Canadian Forces of a 17-year old hunter from an ice floe in Northern Hudson’s Bay. The boy had been stranded on the ice for two days and was being stalked by polar bears. That’s a bad thing. (Laughter) Three search and rescue technicians parachuted onto a nearby ice floe, covered the water and the ice chunks to rescue that young hunter. Tonight with us is the leader of that team of professionals, Sergeant Randy McOrmond. Where are you? Stand up. (Applause) Randy, keep standing up. No, we’re not finished with you yet. (Laughter) But Randy’s from Blind River, Ontario, his wonderful wife Laurie. And ladies and gentlemen, they have two wonderful kids, 4 and 2. This is the first break they’ve ever had away from parenthood tonight. Thank you. (Applause)

You know ladies and gentlemen, today your Canadian Forces are serving coast to coast and around the world in Afghanistan and 17 other missions around the world. The sun never sets on the Canadian Forces. And when you reflect upon where we are today, but also where we’ve served before, and where we served before, the freedoms those countries enjoy today, Canadians have every reason to be proud of the difference we have made to world security. Let me give you a few examples.

This year, the Royal Canadian Legion is celebrating the 65^th anniversary of the Italian campaign. Over 100,000 Canadians fought up the boot of Italy, over 6,000 Canadians were killed in action and thousands were wounded. But today, Italy and Europe are at peace. Next year, we will celebrate the 60^th anniversary of the Korean war. Twenty-six thousand Canadians fought in the Korean war. Over 500 were killed in action and thousands were wounded. Today, South Korea is at peace. Recently, we concluded our operations in Croatia in Bosnia. After 17 years of fighting, of service and of sacrifice. We fought to open Sarajevo Airport, we fought at the Medak Pocket. Many Canadians died and many were wounded. This struck me because recently I was at a NATO meeting, and a gentleman sitting beside me was the Chief of Defence Staff of Croatia because Croatia’s at peace and Croatia is a member of NATO, and Bosnia has sent peacekeeping troops to Afghanistan. (Applause)

And Canadians are safe because generations of veterans, your kin, your neighbours, your friends who went overseas and fought and made peace, just like your sons and daughters in uniform serve today in Afghanistan. The defence of Canada begins 10,000 kilometres away in places like Italy, Croatia, Bosnia and Afghanistan. And yet, too many have made the ultimate sacrifice. To all the family members who have lost loved ones in a conflict, we stand by your side, our arms embrace you and as well, you give us the strength and the inspiration to carry on. And I would ask all of our families of the fallen to please stand up now and we want to give you our respect and our gratitude of a great nation. Please stand up. (Applause) We salute you.

Whether our men and women are serving at home or overseas, they need to be able to focus on their missions. We need to take care of our families while their loved ones are deployed. That’s what we’re doing here tonight in Toronto. Ladies and gentlemen, your attendance tonight and generosity towards our men and women in uniform and their families is greatly appreciated. Your Forces are deployed around the world, not only Afghanistan, but in Congo, Sudan, Haiti, Middle East and even Cyprus. Today, HMCS Fredericton moves towards the Horn of Africa. Their families are at home trying to keep things normal. I would like to ask you to please think of them and in your own way and your own tradition, say a prayer for them. Recognize the sacrifices that they for all of us in Canada to be safe. I’m proud of them, I’m proud of their families, I am truly thankful to Toronto for your support. God bless. Thank you very much.