The CCI Remembrance Day Ceremony is held every November 11. It especially commemorates the 1375 Canadian soldiers who died in and around Ortona (located just north of Lanciano) in fierce battles during WWII and who are buried in the Moro River Cemetery.
It is a moving ceremony attended by Canadian Armed Forces personnel from Italy and Europe, local politicians and we are especially grateful for the participation of the Canadian Ambassador, Mr. James Fox.
CCI students and faculty as well as the above mentioned dignitaries participated in a moving ceremony.
Following the ceremony, Mrs. D’Alessandro hosted a luncheon for Armed Forces personnel. After lunch, Ambassador Fox, Colonel Tony Battista, Colonel Milot and Colonel Moore, (co-incidentally as CCI past parent) held a question and answer session with the students that resulted in questions on a wide range of topics being addressed.
In the Moro River Ceremony – July 11, 2004
By Brian Kellow (English teacher in CCI’s summer programme)
Now is the time for weeping
Among the young and the
Young dead,
The white crosses and the red flowers
And the grass
Over the underground stains
Of all the silent boys.
Now is the time for weeping
Among the young and the
Young dead
For the lives not lived
For the loves not loved
For the suddenly old faces and
The long passed lines
Around the eyes
Of the mothers, the wives
And the fathers.
Now is the time for weeping
In the place as silent
As the lost laughter
Of the boys
In the place as still
As the brooding mountain
That witnessed
The guns, the cries and the white crosses
And hears only the silence
Of the voiceless
Of the young,
Of the dead.
Now is the time for weeping.
Now is the time for weeping.
I am among the weeping
The young
And the dead.