Rememberance Day Class Contest Winners

The class did a great job in their writings, and I was very pleased.  Below are three that will go on into the Legions Contest.  Good Luck to Garyn, Bryce and Reilly!

Storming the Beaches

By Garyn Topola

It was June 6, 1944. I was sitting in the first boat ready to storm the beaches of Normandy. The 30 other men with me were just as scared as I was, as we sat there getting briefed about the Mission. Sargent Will Gotte was yelling out commands like, “Leave the wounded behind!’’ and “Keep on advancing!”

             Just before we landed, with the cool, salty water spraying our faces, I thought about my mother and father - a single Nazi bullet was the only wall standing between me and coming home. I looked over and saw fear in everyone’s eyes; the same fear that filled the stare of my closest friend here, Private John Williams. He looked at me as if to say, “I am so scared Robert, tell my parents I love them.”

The bag pipes began to rumble as the doors of death opened up in front of us; stopping my heart with fear.  Bullets were flying over and around us.  One eventually found John and he dropped to the sand.  I stopped momentarily and sat down by his side.  I looked at his lifeless body, knowing that just a couple of months ago he was someone’s son, and now was gone because of a single bullet.  I moved on and kept fighting.  It had become personal.  The bullets never seizing, were like hungry wolves prowling around searching for their next prey to take away and devour.  The few weary soldiers that made it past the beaches would fight for another eleven months.  2500 more allied soldiers would soon fall for their country.

This Remembrance Day I will remember not only our fallen soldiers, but the wives, children, brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers that all suffered the pain of loss.  And not only our allied families and soldiers, but also the innocent lives lost on the other side of the battle.  I have been called a hero, but I am just a survivor.  The real heroes are those who paid the ultimate sacrifice; their life.

       A Journey to the Past

                                              By Bryce

Many, many years ago,

There was a war often mistold,

With soldiers laying low,

Amidst the hazy smoke of old,

                                             

All around was the sound of explosions,

In the trenches the brave were frightened,

For some, many moments seemed slow-motion,

While new recruits, their straps they tightened,

It was during this time true sides were shown,

Of those whose actions were mildly cruel,

Of those whose passions were left alone,

Of those who treated everyone as a fool,

Not only in the terror,

But at safe homes,

Where laughter seemed rarer,

Where widows wept and mourned alone,

Through many courageous charges and fights,

The good had finally prevailed,

Though many went to see the light,

The wickedness of evil had been unveiled,

What we do now in honour of these remarkable actions,

Is humbly take time to remember those who died for their nations.

A Soldiers Letter Home

By Reilly

There is a corner hidden away

Where a soldier man lay,

He writes of war and writes of sorrow,

He writes of happiness and hope for tomorrow.

He writes of the fears

And writes of the tears,

He writes of blood

And the agonizing things he hears.

He writes of the cold nights

And the fierce fights.

He writes of places and faces he’s seen;

He writes about where he has been;

He writes of death

And the last breath - that many take

Then he writes about poppies

And the people that died for their countries sake.

He writes of men that love their families

And he writes of hope and a world of peace.

All in a letter home