THE LORD BYRON FOUNDATION SPONSORS THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESPRIT DE
CORPS , CANADIAN MILITARY MAGAZINE AND THE LAUNCH OF A NEW BOOOK
On May 31, 2001, at the National Library of Canada in Ottawa, The Esprit de
Corps magazine celebrated its 10th anniversary with the launching of a new
book.
This event was sponsored by the Lord Byron Foundation for Balkan Studies and
it was attended by close to 200 guests many of which from the media ,
military, diplomatic and political circles.
Mr. James Bissett, Canadian former ambassador to Yugoslavia, as the Chairman
of the Lord Byron Foundation , introduced the presentations and made note of
the Esprit de Corps' and Scott Taylor's in particular, for contributing
balanced insight into the Balkan conflict.
The book which was launched "Canada at War and Peace, II - A Millennium of
Military Heritage" includes many excerpts from Taylor's writing ("Inat" and
"Tested Mettle") which gives a prospective on the break up of Yugoslavia as
witnessed first hand by Canadian peacekeepers.
On hand to receive a ceremonial copy of "Canada at War and Peace, II - A
Millennium of Military Heritage" was Mr. Roch Carrier, National Librarian.
Present in the audience were delegations from Yugoslavian , Macedonian,
Greek, Chinese, Iraqi and Sudanese Embassies, as well as representatives
from over one dozen military associations and similar number of Members of
Parliament.
The combination book-launch and anniversary celebration were covered by the
Ottawa Citizen, CTV and E-press and many other media personalities attended
as guests and friends of Esprit the Corps.
The book itself "Canada at War and Peace, II - A Millennium of Military
Heritage" is a two volume, 1000 page reference set which covers all aspects
of Canada's military heritage from the first Viking raids to the NATO
occupation of Kosovo.
Many of the book's main editors-known as the old guard of Esprit de Corps
are themselves veterans of World War II and Korea.
These gentlemen , Col. Strom Galloway, Norm Shannon, Les Peate and Bill
Twatio were cold forward by Katherine Taylor, the magazine's vice-president,
to officially commemorate Esprit de Corps' anniversary with the cake cutting
ceremony.
The lavish event featured catering courtesy of Nik Nageeb Shallah who
donated the food and services in recognition of Scott Taylor's investigative
reporting on the crisis in his homeland of Iraq.
The wine for the event was provided by the Yugoslavian embassy and many of
the volunteers who helped to serve the food and drinks were the members of
the Ottawa Serbian Community who were appreciative of Taylor's unbiased
coverage of events in the Balkans.
During his speech Mr. Taylor acknowledged the tremendous support which
Esprit de Corps has received over the past two years from the Serbian
Community. He also singled out his editor at the Ottawa Citizen Mr. Bruce
Garvey for ensuring that the Yugoslavian reports were given a fair measure
of prominence.
Boba Borojevic, Coordinator
The Lord Byron Foundation, Canada
Serbian News Network
http://www.antic.org/
