Mr. Speaker, I had the great honour of travelling to Normandy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. It was a very moving experience. There I met a dozen veterans who helped liberate Europe and give us the freedom we enjoy today.
I was especially proud to see so many Hamilton connections in Normandy for D-Day. Major-General Richard Rohmer, honorary lieutenant general of the Canadian Armed Forces, was born in Hamilton. He flew a Mustang in the Second World War, and his reconnaissance led the allies to find and injure Nazi general Erwin Rommel.
A team of engineering students from McMaster University built a special torch for the occasion. They brought a bit of the Centennial Flame from Ottawa across the ocean and used it to brighten various ceremonies throughout the week.
In a new remembrance room at the Juno Beach Centre, I saw a beautiful tribute to Hamilton's own Nathan Cirillo, who was killed in 2014 in Ottawa while on sentry duty at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
We will remember them.