Veterans Day was this past Thursday in the United States. In our neighbor to the north, Canada, it was Remembrance Day — a day commemorating the military fallen of the U.K. Commonwealth.
In one Canadian city, however, vandals decided there were a different set of “heroes” on this most solemn of days: namely, those who had received the COVID-19 vaccine.
According CTV News in Calgary, a wall of honor in Cranbrook, British Columbia, was defaced by vandals early Thursday morning. Their message: “The real heroes are the vaccinated!”
Wall of Honour vandalized with COVID-19 graffiti on Remembrance Day in Cranbrook https://t.co/VzyKWQ0JZ9
— Vernon Morning Star (@VernonNews) November 12, 2021
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“Thankfully, the Cranbrook RCMP, Cranbrook Fire Services and City of Cranbrook staff worked together and were able to quickly remove the writings before any of our war heroes and veterans were able to see what had been written,” Royal Canadian Mounted Police Const. Katie Forgeron said, according to the Cranbook Daily Townsman.
The RCMP is investigating the vandalism.
Wall of Honour vandalised ahead of Remembrance Day ceremonies in Rotary Park https://t.co/qTztrDbr7h
— Cranbrook Townsman (@CranTownsman) November 11, 2021
The city released a statement on their Facebook page, saying “we are beyond disappointed by the disrespectful actions of those responsible for defacing such an important monument on such an important day for all Canadians.”
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“This act does not speak to the character and values of our citizens and our community,” the statement continued.
“We are grateful to the member of the community that alerted us of the vandalism early this morning. We are extremely proud of our staff, RCMP and Fire Services members who were able to quickly remove the graffiti and allow for the Remembrance Day ceremonies to go on, and remain focused on honoring all our veterans, past and present for their selfless sacrifice.”
The vandalism came amid anti-vaccination protests in two other cities in British Columbia on Remembrance Day, according to the CBC — Kamloops and Kelowna.
**Correction: They brought their own microphone.**
— KelownaNow (@KelownaNow) November 11, 2021
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“We are saddened that anyone would feel it necessary to distract from the sacrifice of our veterans and their families with political agendas. Especially on Remembrance Day,” said Val McGregor, president of the British Columbia/Yukon Command of the Royal Canadian Legion, in a statement.
Distasteful though this may be, protests against vaccination are unpleasant distractions. Graffiti on a memorial for veterans — calling the vaccinated the “real heroes” — is a direct insult to those who have served and died for Canada.
And yet, most of the CBC’s coverage was dedicated to the anti-vaccination protests.
The defacement was addressed in the second paragraph. The rest was mostly given over to what happened in Kelowna and Kamloops. In the final three paragraphs, the Cranbrook defacement was briefly sketched out.
While we don’t know the motives of the Cranbrook vandals, we know the message: Forget service members who have fought and died, those who’ve gotten an inoculation are the ones we ought to be celebrating. This is the kind of vaccine craziness we’re seeing now. To at least one person, heroism apparently isn’t service, it’s just getting a shot.
Assuming this isn’t a hoax, it’s rebarbative stuff — and something that merited far more condemnation than just the desultory mention it got from the national media in Canada. Any distraction from Remembrance Day is problematic. However, the inability to tell the difference between protests and vandalism which states the vaccinated are more heroic than veterans speaks to a different sickness entirely.