Merchant Navy Veterans Day Canada:

[KG]

MERCHANT NAVY VETERANS DAY OF REMEMBRANC​E CEREMONY - SEPTEMBER 8, 2013, NATIONAL WAR MONUMENT , IN OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA:

Dear Sir/Madam:

I am writing to inform you about the upcoming Merchant Navy Veterans Day of Remembrance ceremony that will be held on Sunday, September 8, 2013, at the National War Memorial, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, commencing at 11:00 a.m.

During the Second World War, a total of merchant ships, with 164,783,921 tons of cargo on-board, sailed from North America to Britain. However, the true cost of the war at sea was in human lives lost in defence of freedom – the Canadian Merchant Navy alone lost one seafarer in eight, out of the 12,000 that faithfully served their country.

Today, the typical age of our Merchant Seaman is mid-to-late 80s and 90s, and the attrition rate is very high. Sadly, this may well be the last year for a large gathering of our aging and ailing Veterans in Canada.

I invite you to share the attached information package below, so that we may generate a greater awareness of the sacrifices and contributions made by the Canadian and Allied Merchant Navies that were the mainstay of the Allied Forces victories in both WWI and WWII.

I have also provided a hyperlink to the following presentation I made before the Senate Committee on the subject of Merchant Navy Veterans (for reference):

LINK: sen.parl.gc.ca/pdowne/english/Committees/Veterans%20Affairs%20Subcommittee/April_9_2008_e.htm

Thank you for your consideration to the above.


Stéphane Ouellette

Executive Director

Merchant Navy Commemorative Theme Project (MNCTP)

[Administrator]

RE: I invite you to share the attached information package below: Attachment is to large to add here: Sorry.:

K.

[KG]

August 17, 2013:

Stéphane Ouellette, Executive Director, Merchant Navy Commemorative Theme Project sent this to Defence Watch:

I am writing to inform you about the upcoming Merchant Navy Veterans Day of Remembrance ceremony that will be held on Sunday, September 8, 2013, at the National War Memorial, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, commencing at 11:00 a.m.

During the Second World War, a total of merchant ships, with 164,783,921 tons of cargo on-board, sailed from North America to Britain. However, the true cost of the war at sea was in human lives lost in defence of freedom – the Canadian Merchant Navy alone lost one seafarer in eight, out of the 12,000 that faithfully served their country.

Today, the typical age of our Merchant Seaman is mid-to-late 80s and 90s, and the attrition rate is very high. Sadly, this may well be the last year for a large gathering of our aging and ailing Veterans in Canada.

LINK: