Huge crowds at Remembrance Day ceremony

Melissa Strle
Times Reporter

 

Large crowds filled the Strathmore Civic Centre on the morning of Nov. 11 as people came to honour, pay tribute to and remember those who sacrificed for our country. As crowds filled the large room, many others stood outside to hear and take part in the important ceremony.
Remembrance Day honours the time the guns fell silent at the end of the First World War in 1918 during the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, and every year Canadian citizens fall silent at this time to remember.
According to Strathmore mayor Michael Ell, it was an honour to see so many people willing to come forward and remember the military and the sacrifices they have given.
“This speaks volumes as to our community,” said Ell. “We gather as a community to remember those who gave us the life and the freedoms we appreciate so much.”
Strathmore-Brooks MLA Derek Fildebrandt was a guest speaker at the ceremony.
“We have fewer veterans with us now, but more people are coming out to honour them and that might be because of the wars our country has had to fight in recent years,” he said.
Fildebrandt, who grew up in military towns, explained that some of his best friends served in Afghanistan.
“Some of them [were] seriously wounded, all of them mentally wounded,” said Fildebrandt. “It changed their lives – they were not the same men when they came back that I knew when they went.”
Fildebrandt’s great grandfather fought on the beaches of Normandy in the Second World War. Fildebrandt said his grandfather didn’t really like to talk about it very much, but he did want to know that people remembered.
Canadians have served in the armed forces since 1867. Ell said Canada’s peacekeeping role has enabled it to help others who are not able to defend themselves.
“We look back and we see what they endured and we are humbled by their sacrifices,” said Ell.
He urged the community to honour those who fought for us by pausing and remembering their actions, and to remind ourselves that our freedom came from the sacrifices of others.
Canadians fought in the Boer War, the First World War, the Second World War, Korean War and in Afghanistan. There was a large break between the Korean War ending in 1953 and Afghanistan, and in the decades between, thousands of Canadians served as peacekeepers overseas in various operations.
Martin Shields, MP Bow River and a former school teacher, said Canada has a long history of participating in those battlefields that are important.
“It’s been an honour to travel with students to Europe to see those cemeteries and to watch the students as they read the dates of each of those people who died … 17, 18, 19, 20 [years] … the tears welled up as they realized they were the same age as the [soldiers] were,” he said.
Strathmore Royal Canadian Legion comrade Irene Knappe acted as host during the ceremony at the Civic Centre. She told of two “somewhat happy stories that happened during the two awful and miserable world wars,” and she remembered her father, a war veteran who passed away last July.
“He only spoke of some of the fun times, never anything else,” said Knappe.
The Brentwood School senior choir opened the ceremony with O Canada and sung In Flanders Fields, One Candle and Amazing Grace, and closed with God Save the Queen.
During the ceremony, Comrade David Haines, CD, came forward to read the names of the men of Strathmore and district who gave their lives in the First and Second World Wars.
After the ceremony concluded, the crowd was invited to the field of honour at the Strathmore Cemetery, followed by the Legion to enjoy comradeship, entertainment and the sharing of “some stories some of us cannot forget,” said Knappe.