Huron County student reflects on Liberation Day class trip

A Huron County teen is back home after his trip to the Netherlands to mark Liberation Day. CTV London’s Scott Miller reports.

Travis Saunders is one of the youngest history buffs in Huron County.

“I’ve always had a bit of a fascination with history. I’ve liked the weapons, the vehicles and the people, but I really haven’t experienced it the way I did on that trip. It was quite an experience,” said the 16-year-old Central Huron Secondary School student.

Saunders and six Central Huron Secondary School classmates experienced history firsthand this month, travelling to the Netherlands for the 80th anniversary of Liberation Day. Ceremonies and parades marked the exact day, 80 years ago, when the Nazi’s surrendered in World War II. More than 44,000 Canadian soldiers died in the conflict, and those that survived were hailed as heroes during Liberation Day festivities.

“It was just touching. It was completely silent. Every student there took it very seriously. There were hundreds of students, the same age as Travis there, experiencing, remembering,” said Crystal Gascho, who chaperoned the Central Huron Secondary students on the Liberation Day trip.

For Saunders, who made a mini documentary about Canada’s contributions to World War II for a class project in the weeks leading up to the trip, just being there would have been enough. He also got a chance to sit and talk with a 101-year-old Canadian veteran who fought on D-Day.

“It meant a lot to me, having him talk to me about what he was doing when he was my age, and how young he was when he went to war. I just can’t imagine it now, when all I’m doing is going to school each day,” said the Grade 11 student.

The 10 day trip included not only the Liberation Day parade in the Netherlands, but stopped at Vimy Ridge, Juno Beach and Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery. It’s the kind of trip Saunders and his fellow classmates will never forget.

“Seeing the value that other nations and other people have put on the contributions that Canadians made, and the sacrifices that Canadians made for the greater good during World War II really stuck with a lot of them,” said trip organizer and Central Huron history teacher, Joel Gilbert.

“Touching the sand at Juno Beach, visiting Vimy Ridge and the large monument there, it’s breathtaking. The photos don’t capture what it feels like to actually experience any of that,” said Vice-Principal Gascho, who was on the trip.

“I’ve got a much more down to earth perspective on the war, and it made me very much realize how on a human level, this war was very terrible and not just a bunch of flashy pictures that we see today,” said Saunders.