OTTAWA, ON, April 5, 2007 - As she departs for France today to take part in the official ceremonies to mark the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, Adele Fifield, President of The War Amps Operation Legacy, notes that her group is pleased to endorse the various reasons Canada became a nation.

“Our Operation Legacy members are looking forward to this anniversary and anxious to see how Vimy was a turning point in shaping Canada as a nation,” said Fifield, a native of Trinity East, Newfoundland, and Graduate of The War Amps Child Amputee (CHAMP) Program, which she joined at the age of 13 after losing her leg to cancer.

Also attending will be Operation Legacy Vice President and fellow CHAMP Graduate Rob Larman of Etobicoke, Ontario, a leg amputee due to a train accident.

Consisting of some 200 older members and Graduates of CHAMP, Operation Legacy passes on the ‘NEVER AGAIN!’ message of the horrors of war from war amputees to the younger generation and asks Canada’s youth to promote the veterans’ remembrance message.

In noting the reasons why this battle is considered the birth of Canada’s nationhood, Fifield cited excerpts from a recent article by War Amps CEO Cliff Chadderton as follows:

Memorable Quotes

“In those few minutes I witnessed the birth of a nation.”  — Brigadier General A.E. Ross

“A defining moment for Canada, when the country emerged from the shadow of Britain and felt capable of greatness.”  — Tim Cook, writing for the Canadian War Museum

“On July 26, 1936, tens of thousands joined the pilgrimage to Vimy Ridge to see King Edward VIII unveil the ‘Spirit of Canada.’ It was stated: ‘It is a memorial to no man, but a memorial to a nation.’” — VAC Canada Remembers Web site

“Canada’s military achievements during the war raised our international stature and helped earn us a separate signature on the Treaty of Versailles that ended the war.”
— VAC Canada Remembers Web site

“The fight to take Vimy Ridge cost Canada dearly, but it would become the cornerstone of the nation’s image of its place in the world.”  — Gary Graves, CBC News

“As far as I could see, south, north, along the miles of the Ridge, there were the Canadians. And I experienced my first full sense of nationhood.”  — Lieutenant Gregory Clark, MC, Weekend Magazine (Toronto), November 13, 1967.