We arrived iat St Georges pilot station at 7 am. They built a brand new dock here two years ago, so that bigger cruise ships do not have to go to the anchorage. It has a little cruise terminal as well, and from the terminal you can walk through a tunnel to the downtown area. 20 minutes later we were docked at the pier with the gangway out. The Veendam would just fit into down town inner harbour but it would mean getting all the ships out, to give me enough room to swing alongside the dock and thus we also went to the big new pier.
What was more important today was the fact that it was Remembrance Day (Commonwealth) and Veterans Day (USA). This because 89 years ago on the 11th minute of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th. Month in 1918 Armistice was declared. This day later became Veterans Day in the USA and Remembrance Day in Great Britain and the British Commonwealth,
As we have on these 14 day cruises, a slightly more mature clientele on board, we did have a number of veterans present. The cruise director thought it was a good idea to do a remembrance service. I was all for it, as I do think it is important to honour those who put their lives on the line for freedom and especially those who paid the ultimate price.
Thus we held a service in the main lounge at 16.30 with approximate 200 guests attending.
1. Opening Hymn: Amazing Grace
2. Reading and comments by the Reverend Mrs. Kuhn
3. Moment of silence
4. Reading and Lords prayer by Father Pierce
5. Speech by Captain
6. Recognition of the present veterans
7. Closing Hymn: Battle hymn of the Republic.
In Holland we celebrate Remembrance Day on May 4th. and Liberation day on May 5th. But I have lived in England for long enough a time, to know what they do on 11 Nov. especially as both my parents in law are (Second World War) Veterans. As we were in port, we could not do the 2 minutes silence in the morning on 11hrs.11 min. so we had to do it during the service.
I had to come up with a speech that would do both for the USA and Commonwealth. Luckily we have the internet. So below is the result of some cutting and pasting, with a few own idea’s thrown in to make it flow.
captain-remembrance-day-speech.doc
Grenada does celebrate Remembrance Day as well and they used to give a gun shot from St. Georges Fort to mark the beginning of the 2 minutes silence and the end. According to the pilot it was getting harder and harder to get real gun powder to the island and thus the gun has been silent since a few years. With the unfortunate effect that the locals seem to forget the occurrence then.
We pulled away from the dock on time with a lot of wind blowing. There is a tropical wave approaching the south east Caribbean so we are looking at a few windy days. We are going west, and when we sail, we will have the wind going with us and that will count for continued smooth sailing.
Tomorrow we are in El Guamache, better known as Isla de Margarita.
November 12, 2007 at 11:36 pm
Great speech, Captain! Thanks very much for recognizing the vets who fought for their countries, against evil and for freedom! I hope we will never forget them! I remember standing next to my dad (a vet himself from the Koninklijke Marine/Royal Netherlands Navy) in front of the national monument on the dam in Amsterdam as a boy and teenager on the 4th of May. I remember the two minutes of silence and the wreath-laying by Queen Juliana at the monument as emotional times. You and your crew carried on an honored tradition yesterday onboard Veendam which, I have no doubt, was very much appreciated by the veterans and the rest of the 200 guests in attendance! Hartelijk bedankt/Thanks very much!
November 13, 2007 at 2:43 am
Captain, I’m so glad that you took the initiative to arrange this service and to contribute to it so well. We should never forget the debt we owe to others in the enjoyment of our own freedoms, including the freedom to cruise and to self-indulge if we wish. Tyrants & dictators always want to remove these freedoms from us.
The lines you used from Wilfrid Owen, ‘In Flanders Fields’, were written by him immediately after he had been in action on the Somme. Here in England, two things stood out this Remembrance Day. One was the coverage of Harry Patch, Britain’s ‘last Tommy’ from the 1914-1918 Great War, evacuated from the front after being wounded in a bomb blast that killed his two best friends and now an amazing 110 years old! Our last living testimony to that horrendous event.
The other was the production of a TV play based upon a poem written by Rudyard Kipling, ‘My Boy Jack’. The poem depicts the anguish of a mother & father clinging to forlorn hope of a son ‘lost at sea’, although in writing it Kipling was minded by the loss of his own son who was killed the day after his 18th birthday when he led his platoon ‘over the top’ in a futile attempt to advance the line.
He should never have been there as he was under-age when he signed up & severely short-sighted but his father, a friend of the King & Prime Minister & a great patriot, ‘pulled strings’ to enable Jack to pass the medical board. In the blinding rain at the time he led his troops over the top, Jack would have not been able to see anything at all & like so many others, never stood a chance.
Kiplimg advised the War Graves Commision after that war in the construction of the many war cemeteries and it was he who coined the phrase on the headstones of those recovered but not identified, ‘Known Only to God’, (his own son incuded). I hope you won’t mind if I share ‘My Boy Jack’ with your own readers, …….. perhaps it adds another dimension to life at sea?
My Boy Jack
“Have you news of my boy Jack?”
Not this tide.
“When do think that he’ll be coming back?”
Not with this wind blowing and this tide.
“Has anyone else had word of him?”
Not this tide.
For what is sunk will hardly swim,
Not wth this wind blowing, and this tide.
“Oh dear, what comfort can I find?”
None this tide,
Nor any tide, Except he did not shame his kind-
Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide.
Then hold your head up all the more,
This tide, And every tide;
Because he was the son you bore,
And gave to that wind blowing and that tide!
(Rudyard Kipling, (1918?)
November 13, 2007 at 4:56 am
Thank you so much, Captain, for your wonderful speech and for the special rememberance. My son and his new bride are on your ship right now, and both are Veterans. I’m sure that this is a cruise they will never forget (it is also their first cruise). We all stand and thank you.
November 13, 2007 at 8:25 am
Tony, the poem the captain quoted “In Flanders Fields” was written by John McCrae, a Canadian army surgeon during World War I. He wrote it after witnessing the battle-field death of one of his friends.
Captain, Congratulations on organizing and participating in the Veendam’s Remembrance Day service. Even on vacation, it is important to mark these special occasions. Similarly, I always appreciate Holland America’s efforts to ensure access to religious services onboard, in particular the daily Catholic mass.
I really enjoy your blog, especially the segment on your current cruise, as I took this same cruise last March. You came on board as captain several days into the cruise. I remember literally running into you on the stairs the first day you were on board. I was so embarrased when one of the crew told me that I had nearly knocked over the captain! We really enjoyed our time on the Veendam and hope to sail on her again some time.
November 14, 2007 at 6:55 am
Capital Cruiser,
Thank you for posting the correction …. I guess I should have checked it before posting, my memory does play up a bit these days! I agree with your sentiments. I never did have to fight or even wear a uniform, but my debt to those who did so on my behalf is so immense and cannot be repaid.
November 15, 2007 at 1:13 pm
Just want you to know another person enjoyed reading your speech. It is quite beautiful! Thank you for sharing.
Norma