![]() We must acknowledge the dangers and dehumanization that enslaved people faced, and honor those who led the long fight for abolition and justice. “The horrors of slavery can never be forgotten. Markey (D-Mass.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) This legislation is cosponsored in the Senate by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Edward J. ![]() Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Congressman Al Green (D-Texas) introduced a joint resolution to designate August 20th as Slavery Remembrance Day. You can donate to the Juno Beach Centre in honour of Jim and the 1.1 million Canadians who served during the Second World War here.NovemSenator Warren and Congressman Al Green Reintroduce Slavery Remembrance Day Resolution We are honoured to have Jim – a former marathon runner – as our veteran ambassador once again to remind us all what the Remembrance Day Races are all about: You can hear Jim’s story in his own words in his Legacy of Honour testimony. Jim, along with his brother Jack, served throughout the rest of the war, fighting in major battles across France, Belgium, the Netherlands and eventually making it into Germany. Martin in his arms as the young soldier took his final breaths. ![]() Despite the German machine gun fire, Jim stopped and held Cpl. He vividly remembers the moment he came upon his wounded comrade, Cpl. He nearly drowned disembarking from his landing craft. At age 19, Jim landed as a rifleman in the first wave of troops on D-Day, June 6, 1944, coming ashore just in front of where the Juno Beach Centre stands today. Jim shipped overseas with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles two months later, in August 1941. Jim Parks was only 15 and living in Winnipeg when he lied about his age and enlisted to serve in the Canadian forces just as his four brothers had done. When you sign up for the 2021 Remembrance Day Races fundraiser, you will be part of this generation’s fight to preserve the legacies of our Second World War veterans – and the 45,000 Canadians who heroically made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom and peace. It challenges the limits of what is possible. Just as it was 75 years ago, volunteering remains a powerful force that inspires social responsibility, uniting an individual’s sense of duty with the strength of combined action. This year, the Juno Beach Centre x VR Pro Remembrance Day Races honour the spirit of volunteerism during the Second World War. The power of collective action taken on voluntarily by Canadians is a testament to the shared values Canadians still hold dear today: democracy, morality, humility, courage, service and peace. Every Canadian at Dieppe and at Juno Beach was a volunteer. Out of the 1.1 million Canadians who served (an immense contribution from a country of only 11 million people coast to coast) approximately 1 million selflessly stepped forward and answered the call to serve their country. Even children demonstrated a strong sense of civic-mindedness, finding ways of contributing what they could, such as knitting warm socks for soldiers overseas, tending victory gardens, or collecting scrap metal. Men and women enlisted by the hundreds of thousands to serve in the armed forces, millions more generously volunteered their time and resources to the “total war effort”. During the Second World War Canadians embodied and valourized the spirit of volunteerism.
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