Who among new municipal candidates will help honour war hero?
I have a request for those of you running for city council.
Incumbents can keep on ignoring it like they have for the last year-and-a-half.
It was October of 2006 when I first asked the powers-that-be in this city to offer a location for a plaque to honour local war hero James Howard Cassidy.
It’s been 18 months and I’m still waiting for the first reply.
Now I’m asking you fine folks who hope to replace them for the same thing.
Here’s the story in a nutshell.
Jim Cassidy was born in Newcastle in 1912. He went to Harkins, grew up, became an RCMP officer and served for a time in the RCMP marine section in Halifax.
When war broke out, he took a leave from the RCMP and enlisted, ending up in the Merchant Marine. Cassidy became second officer of the Pink Star, an American vessel flying under a Panamanian flag and crewed by Canadians.
The Pink Star was off the southern tip of Greenland enroute to Iceland in convoy when she was torpedoed on Sept. 19, 1941.
All of her lifeboats were smashed except one. Twelve of the crew of 36 were lost. Those that remained, swimming in the frigid water, scrambled for the safety of the remaining lifeboat.
One of those people was Jim Cassidy.
The captain of the Pink Star, a Halifax man named MacKenzie, later told reporters how Cassidy swam up to the lifeboat and saw how overcrowded the small vessel was. The others, knowing full well doing so would endanger them all, reached out to take Cassidy aboard, but he swam out of reach.
"Go on, I'm all right," Cassidy told his shipmates. "So long."
And he swam away, sacrificing his life so he could save two dozen others.
Capt. MacKenzie told reporters from news agencies around the world about the bravery of Cassidy.
"It was the finest thing I ever saw."
Cassidy was recommended for the George Cross, the second highest award the British empire gives out for bravery, but never received it. He could have been placed on the RCMP honour roll, but wasn't a serving member at the time, so that honour was lost to him as well.
Cassidy was the very definition of a hero, so why were there no plaques dedicated to his heroics, no monuments to his valour? Why wasn’t there a plaque on the wall of City Hall or in the park downtown commemorating the service of this Newcastle man who gave his life to save 24 others?
I asked the powers-that-be to help change that.
“There must be a politician, be it MP, MLA, or mayor, who can find a couple of hundred bucks to buy this hero a plaque. Anyone?" I wrote in 2006.
I never heard back from any of them. Surprise, surprise.
But I did get a message the next day from a local businessman who generously offered to pay for a plaque to honour the war hero.
I appealed to the politicans again, this time only looking for some place to put the plaque.
“After 65 years, a local war hero will finally be recognized. But now the question is, where to put the plaque when it's finished? So, I'm calling upon our elected officials again. Can anybody, be it an MP, MLA or mayor, find a place for this plaque where people can see it and remember? Can't we all pull together to honour one of our own?”
Still nothing.
It didn’t take me long to figure out those sitting around the council table weren’t going to lift a finger to honour this hometown hero.
So I sat back and waited for a few years, knowing, as this council is about to discover, governments come and go, but things that are right and good never change and honouring James Howard Cassidy is the right and good thing to do.
Are you gonna help honour a fellow RCMP officer if you get elected, Mr. Hoban?
What about you, Mr. Cormier? With all your years working with the federal government, arranging something like this should be a snap for you.
I really don’t care who does it, as long as it gets done.
This community has let down this hero for 67 years. It’s not too late to make things right.
By the way. The fact that those in power never even acknowledged the oh-so-simple request to find a spot for a plaque for this hero speaks volumes about their character, and should be remembered when you go to the polls.
Incumbents can keep on ignoring it like they have for the last year-and-a-half.
It was October of 2006 when I first asked the powers-that-be in this city to offer a location for a plaque to honour local war hero James Howard Cassidy.
It’s been 18 months and I’m still waiting for the first reply.
Now I’m asking you fine folks who hope to replace them for the same thing.
Here’s the story in a nutshell.
Jim Cassidy was born in Newcastle in 1912. He went to Harkins, grew up, became an RCMP officer and served for a time in the RCMP marine section in Halifax.
When war broke out, he took a leave from the RCMP and enlisted, ending up in the Merchant Marine. Cassidy became second officer of the Pink Star, an American vessel flying under a Panamanian flag and crewed by Canadians.
The Pink Star was off the southern tip of Greenland enroute to Iceland in convoy when she was torpedoed on Sept. 19, 1941.
All of her lifeboats were smashed except one. Twelve of the crew of 36 were lost. Those that remained, swimming in the frigid water, scrambled for the safety of the remaining lifeboat.
One of those people was Jim Cassidy.
The captain of the Pink Star, a Halifax man named MacKenzie, later told reporters how Cassidy swam up to the lifeboat and saw how overcrowded the small vessel was. The others, knowing full well doing so would endanger them all, reached out to take Cassidy aboard, but he swam out of reach.
"Go on, I'm all right," Cassidy told his shipmates. "So long."
And he swam away, sacrificing his life so he could save two dozen others.
Capt. MacKenzie told reporters from news agencies around the world about the bravery of Cassidy.
"It was the finest thing I ever saw."
Cassidy was recommended for the George Cross, the second highest award the British empire gives out for bravery, but never received it. He could have been placed on the RCMP honour roll, but wasn't a serving member at the time, so that honour was lost to him as well.
Cassidy was the very definition of a hero, so why were there no plaques dedicated to his heroics, no monuments to his valour? Why wasn’t there a plaque on the wall of City Hall or in the park downtown commemorating the service of this Newcastle man who gave his life to save 24 others?
I asked the powers-that-be to help change that.
“There must be a politician, be it MP, MLA, or mayor, who can find a couple of hundred bucks to buy this hero a plaque. Anyone?" I wrote in 2006.
I never heard back from any of them. Surprise, surprise.
But I did get a message the next day from a local businessman who generously offered to pay for a plaque to honour the war hero.
I appealed to the politicans again, this time only looking for some place to put the plaque.
“After 65 years, a local war hero will finally be recognized. But now the question is, where to put the plaque when it's finished? So, I'm calling upon our elected officials again. Can anybody, be it an MP, MLA or mayor, find a place for this plaque where people can see it and remember? Can't we all pull together to honour one of our own?”
Still nothing.
It didn’t take me long to figure out those sitting around the council table weren’t going to lift a finger to honour this hometown hero.
So I sat back and waited for a few years, knowing, as this council is about to discover, governments come and go, but things that are right and good never change and honouring James Howard Cassidy is the right and good thing to do.
Are you gonna help honour a fellow RCMP officer if you get elected, Mr. Hoban?
What about you, Mr. Cormier? With all your years working with the federal government, arranging something like this should be a snap for you.
I really don’t care who does it, as long as it gets done.
This community has let down this hero for 67 years. It’s not too late to make things right.
By the way. The fact that those in power never even acknowledged the oh-so-simple request to find a spot for a plaque for this hero speaks volumes about their character, and should be remembered when you go to the polls.
posted by Street Wise Guy | 9:24 PM
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