Posted on 01/30/2008 5:28:44 PM PST by buccaneer81
Vimy's new enemy: no uniform, no clothes, no respect Exhibitionism Veterans minister deterring public sex at memorial
Rob Linke TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL Published Wednesday January 30th, 2008 Appeared on page A1
OTTAWA - More than 90 years after Canadian soldiers seized Vimy Ridge, Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson is still part of a battle - this one to protect Canada's iconic memorial from kinky French couples.
Vimy's new enemy are exhibitionists who pose nude or have sex at the First World War memorial, then post pictures of their activities online.
Some images have the names of thousands of Canadian war dead, carved in the base of the towering monument, as their backdrop.
Thompson said Veterans Affairs is doing everything in its power to deter the behaviour.
"It is shocking," Thompson said Tuesday. "We've had desecration of war monuments in Canada before and it's never acceptable.
"This is something no government will tolerate."
Monday, a French court sentenced one couple from Paris for sexual exhibitionism on the grounds of the 250-acre site last summer.
The couple was fined 150 Euros ($220 Cdn) and given a one-month conditional sentence, which means they will be jailed for 30 days if they reoffend within five years.
Veterans Affairs hired a French lawyer to represent it in court as an aggrieved party.
"We wanted to ensure the court understood the importance of Vimy to Canada and the inappropriateness of such actions there," said department spokesperson Janice Summerby.
The department also requested a symbolic one-Euro fine and reimbursement of its court costs of 500 Euros ($740 Cdn).
The case of two more couples caught in November is in the hands of the public prosecutor in nearby Arras. It has not come to trial.
French police have since told Veterans Affairs a third case has occurred, said Summerby.
The department intends to intervene at court every time, she said.
"Hopefully that will serve as a deterrent," she said.
The private company that provides security on site has increased its patrols and other measures are being reviewed, said Summerby.
There have been several incidents of vandalism or mischief that demonstrated disrespect of war memorials in Canada. In one infamous incident in 2006, three men were caught on camera urinating on the National War Memorial in Ottawa. They were later found guilty of mischief.
Veterans Affairs, several other departments and the Ottawa police later adopted several measures, including year-round electronic surveillance, additional security patrols during the tourist season, and more guards and crowd-control equipment at the site during Canada Day and other special events.
In France, the French news service Agence France-Presse said several websites show dozens of sexual voyeurs and exhibitionists using the Vimy site for encounters. One directs others there, boasting of ample parking spots.
The Internet postings have been online for at least seven years, CBC-TV reported.
Summerby said it's her understanding the exhibitionists see it as "a bit of a badge of honour" to post images of their activities in public locations of historic interest.
The Vimy memorial was unveiled in 1936 by King Edward VIII. It is dominated by two tall stone pylons and surrounded by sombre sculptures. The grounds also have restored trenches and are surrounded by woods planted with Canadian trees and shrubs.
More than 500,000 people a year visit the Vimy memorial.
Thompson was at Vimy last April, when thousands of people gathered to mark the 90th anniversary of the Easter, 1917 battle.
Thompson recalled his visit left him impressed that ordinary French citizens still have family stories of their parents or grandparents being liberated from occupying German forces in the "war to end all wars."
One elderly French woman presented him with a rose.
She told him it came from the bush that was the only living thing left on her family's farm after fighting in the First World War.
Four Canadians won the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for valour in the face of the enemy, for their exploits at Vimy.
Nearly 3,600 Canadians died in the two days of fighting.
Of all the memorials and cenotaphs to Canadian warriors around the world, it is hard to think on any that has a deeper significance to Canadians than this one.
That particular mindset isn't confined to Canadians alone, FRiend Clive. Anyone who knows the signifigance of Vimy Ridge understands that it was indeed, the cusp where Canada became, truly, a nation in it's own right, a right bought in the blood of its sons, in bitter combat to aid another beleagered nation. The symbolism is stark, and that some today cheapen it by such tawdriness is apalling to anyone with a sense of history...
the infowarrior
Your reply needs little further comment.... but nicely put. Your analysis of that terrible Versailles Treaty brings to mind a cartoon in an English newspaper. Many years before WW2 and mentioning the humiliation of a defeated foe. It showed a stork bearing a child and the swaddling cloth dated 1940. It indicated a second world war.
To add to it, the absolute disintegration of the German currency in order to pay reparations. The 50 million mark postage stamp and so on. Germany almost went communist after.
On the cemetery so sacred to Canadians, I think it shows a certain degeneracy. Possibly no backbone, who knows?. Yet, in countless other cemetaries, British, Commonwealth graves are absolutely imaculate in France- I have seen the photographs. I presume the doughboys have their cemeteries well tended. (Over there, over there).
Lastly, the Marshall plan saved Germany. I do not think they remember. No more blood shed for Europe. (Says I).
Thank you.
Ah...l’amour, toujours l’amour.
b). Most French do not love 'Muzzies,' a large part of why they do not want Turkey to join the EU.
Bash the relevant people (for this thread) who deserve bashing.
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