Remembrance Day special focuses on Afghan mission

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This article was published 10/11/2010 (5758 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They should not, will not, cannot be forgotten.

Canada’s fallen soldiers, in wars past and present, will be focus of ceremonies and memorials across the country on Thursday, and the subject of a dozen or more TV specials airing on various networks and specialty channels throughout the day.

There are countless reasons Canadians should embrace Remembrance Day as an opportunity for sombre, sober reflection on the contributions of our nation’s military personnel, but perhaps one of the most immediate is the fact that the list of soldiers who have given their lives in the line of duty is, for the first time in a couple of generations, growing longer at a steady pace.

With that in mind, CBC has included in its Remembrance Day schedule a new Doc Zone entry called We Will Remember Them (which airs Thursday at 9 p.m. on CBC), a two-hour, commercial-free broadcast that pays tribute to military personnel who have been killed in action during the current combat mission in Afghanistan.

The special will list, one by one, each of the 152 men and women who have died in Afghanistan; at regular intervals throughout the program, the honour roll will be paused so that an in-depth feature about one of the soldiers can be shown.

In all, 33 of these extended tributes will be included, offering insights about the people, their families, how they lived and how they died. Hopefully, the segments will also explore the impact their deaths has had — and should have — on Canadians in general.

CBC is complementing the broadcast of We Will Remember Them with an interactive website (www.cbc.ca/wewillrememberthem), which includes a memorial wall featuring photos and family profiles of all the Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan and a place for visitors to leave messages, memories and thanks.

We should think of them. It isn’t a matter of remembering, because there really has been no time to forget.

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A few other noteworthy titles on the Remembrance Day television schedule:

— Canada Remembers: Women Who Have Served and Sacrificed (Thursday at 9 p.m., Vision) — This new documentary examines the various contributions by women in Canada’s military history, from serving in non-combat roles during the Second World War to active-duty combat in the modern-day armed forces, from handling jobs back home while men served overseas to the simple, essential task of keeping families together and functioning during wartime. Former Saskatchewan Lt.-Gov. Dr. Lynda Haverstock hosts.

— Storming Juno (Thursday at 7 p.m., History) — Canada’s contribution to the D-Day invasion is examined in this new 90-minute Canadian documentary, which recounts the real-life stories of soldiers, paratroopers and journalists who took part in the June 6, 1944, mission.

— Outside the Wire (Thursday at 9 a.m., W) — Filmmaker Alison MacLean spent three weeks among Canada’s military in Afghanistan while preparing this revealing look at the women serving combat roles on the front lines of the Afghan mission. The film examines the life-and-death decisions of female officers in Battle Group operations and the peril faced by women who venture beyond the front lines and into enemy territory.

brad.oswald@freepress.mb.ca