[2004 – Nijmegen, Netherlands – 160 km – 4 days]
The four-day Nijmegen Marches, 40 kilometres per day plus the extra distance of walking to and from the start point from the military camp, carrying a fifteen-kilogram pack, part of a team of eleven Canadian military personnel, among numerous Canadian military teams, among hundreds of international military teams, among forty thousand individual civilian walkers.
In Dutch, it’s known as the Vierdaagse.
Its humble beginnings in 1909 desired to prepare the Dutch military to be fit for battle after having marched a long distance.
Soon, civilians joined the annual marches and the event has grown from a few hundred per year to nearly fifty thousand.
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The spirit of a team wins the accolades of the crowds.
We sing frequently, songs from our native Canada.
We sing loudly, winning the respect of our hosts.
The trail is frequently congested with participants, but the throngs of civilians part to make way for our speedy, singing team.
The louder we sing, the sooner they make space ahead of us.
Some civilians fall in behind our team so that they can maintain a faster pace without having to dodge the crowds themselves.
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We are frequently thanked by the Dutch for liberating them during the Second World War.
It wasn’t us, of course, who liberated the Netherlands.
It was our veteran ancestors.
Thousands of Canadians failed to survive the liberation.
But the Dutch have long memories, through many generations, thanking some, remaining suspicious of others.
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On the third day, the Canadian military teams meet at the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, where 2,338 Canadian soldiers are buried.
We conduct a formal ceremony and stand in silence, many people fidgeting from standing on sore feet.
After the ceremony, we wander through the headstones, reading the names and inscriptions.
On one stone: Ever remembered by his friends.
On another stone: I had raised him to manhood and they laid him to rest.
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To receive a team medal, the team must generally finish with all its members.
Some military personnel, by rights, ought to have dropped out, so badly mangled were their feet.
But nobody quits.
Nobody wants to let down their team.
As a result, the supporting Canadian medical personnel are busy every day, keeping people hydrated and patching up blistered and bloody feet.
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At the end of the fourth day, the teams complete a five-kilometre victory march through Nijmegen.
Nobody complains of sore feet as the crowds cheer.
Our Canadian flags are held high with pride.
Young women hand out flowers to military participants, give kisses on cheeks, sometimes hugs.
Happiness, laughter, and celebratory beverages pervade.
The memory lasts a lifetime.
