VANCOUVER - The Paralympics are returning to their roots of helping injured soldiers today, the day the torch relay ends and the opening ceremonies mark the opening of the Games.
The final day of the Paralympic relay will see the flame taken aboard a Canadian Forces helicopter and naval ship, and several injured soldiers have already carried the torch.
One of them is retired master corporal Paul Franklin, a medic who lost his legs in Afghanistan in 2006 and now raises money and awareness for amputees in his home province of Alberta.
Franklin notes there are no current or former Canadian soldiers competing in the Winter Paralympics, but he predicts the next Paralympic Games will see injured military personnel on the team, especially as more are wounded in Afghanistan.
He says there are soldiers competing on the Paralympic teams of other countries, partly because better programs are in place to help veterans participate in sport, and also because they have more wounded soldiers returning from combat.
The precursor to the Paralympics was a sporting event in 1948 that involved veterans from the Second World War who had spinal cord injuries.
Canada Remembers - Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games Introduction
The world comes to Canada in 2010 as Vancouver hosts the 21st Winter Olympic Games and the 10th Paralympic Winter Games.
There is a long relationship between sports and military service in our country. Canadians serving in the First and Second World Wars, and the Korean War often took part in 'games days' and other official and unofficial athletic contests. This military/sport connection has continued in the post-war years. Not surprisingly, some of these soldier-athletes have worn both a military uniform and an Olympic athletes uniform for our country. You can read some of their stories by exploring this Web site.
The origins of the Paralympic Games are closely tied with military service. In the years after the Second World War, some Allied servicemen and servicewomen who had been seriously injured in duty began turning to sport to help in their rehabilitation. This modest beginning has grown into the worldwide competition the Paralympic Games are today.
The peace and freedom we in Canada enjoy today is only a dream in many of the countries that will be competing in Vancouver. These privileges are ours because generations of Canadians, like the people mentioned here, have defended them over the years.
Canadian Soldier - Olympians
Soldier On!
Captain Kimberly Fawcett Photo: DND
Awareness of the importance that sport can play in helping to rehabilitate injured servicemen and servicewomen has grown over the years. The Soldier On program was founded in 2007 as a joint initiative of the Canadian Paralympic Committee and the Department of National Defence that aims to use sport to improve the quality of life of current and former Canadian Forces personnel who have suffered major injuries.
The program, now administered by Canadian Forces Personnel and Family Support Services, has helped Sergeant Steve Daniel obtain the necessary equipment to become a world class arms-only rower and it is also helping others. Captain Kimberley Fawcett is an Afghanistan Veteran who lost her leg in a motor vehicle accident back in Canada in 2006 that also took the life of her infant son. Fawcett is training as a triathlete, and has already enjoyed great success in this gruelling sport combining swimming, cycling and running.
Fawcetts own words best sum up the attitude of injured Canadian Forces Veterans persevering in the face of such challenges:
Im always thinking of ways that you can achieve what people think is the impossible...
All of Canada sends their best wishes to all the athletes in the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games.
Now a bit of Olympic history for the airforce types (actually to all Canadians)
Canadian Soldier - Olympians
1948 Gold Medal Hockey TeamLess than three years after the end of the Second World War, the Winter Olympic Games were held in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Many of the players on the Royal Canadian Air Force Flyers hockey team that competed at the Games were Veterans of the war.
The RCAF Flyers celebrate their gold medal win over Switzerland. Back row, (L to R): Andr LaPirre, Hubert Brooks, Andy Gilpin, Ted Hibberd, A. Sydney Dawes (head of the Canadian Olympics Association), Pete Leichnitz, Irving Taylor, Wally Halder, George Mara, Murray Dowey, George McFaul, Frank Boucher, Sandy Watson, and George Dudley (head of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association). Front row (L to R): Roy Forbes, Orville Gravelle, Reg Schroeter, Ab Renaud, Patsy Guzzo, Louis Lecompte and Frank Dunster. Photo: DND
The team had a rocky beginning. It was formed at the last minute and lost several exhibition games, but Canada's underdogs came out on top. Even being pelted with snowballs by the hometown crowd during a game against the Swiss team on the outdoor rink could not stop them. The Flyers finished the round-robin tournament with seven wins and one tie for an overall record that deadlocked them with Czechoslovakia. Canada took home the gold medal based on their superior goals-for and goals-against averages.
Best of Luck to all our Winter Paralympians
Nil Sine Labore
Robby
