On Nov. 11, the Innisfil Rotary Club continued a tradition that began in 1922, when Rotary held its first Remembrance ceremony.
Only, this year, the Remembrance Day meeting was held virtually, via ZOOM.
At 7:15 a.m., the Innisfil club welcomed representatives of three levels of government, as well as veterans and serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces, to an online ceremony.
Pastor Howard Courtney gave the invocation, noting that Remembrance Day “is a reminder to us, of all of those who did not survive,” who sacrificed their lives in service to their Country.
The Pastor encourages all Canadians to reflect on “the precious freedoms we enjoy because of those who laid down their lives… Never forget the price paid for our freedom.”
There was also a prayer for victims of the Holocaust, from Rabbi Audrey Kaufman. The Rabbi urged Canadians “to always remember the stories we are told. We pray that the lessons we learn from this darkest hour… are never forgotten.”
The Remembrance meeting focused on the sacrifices, not only of those who served and fell, but those who returned home as veterans after serving their country, and the families remaining on the home front.
MP for Barrie-Innisfil John Brassard noted that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of Netherlands, the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, and the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean conflict. Brassard, who is Conservative shadow cabinet Minister of Veterans Affairs, called on Canadians to remember the sacrifices made by all those who have served, and by their families.
“Thank you, on behalf of a grateful nation,” he said.
MPP Andrea Khanjin and Innisfil Mayor Lynn Dollin spoke, followed by The Last Post, the two minutes silence, and Reveille - and by veterans and serving members of the military, reflecting on the meaning of Remembrance.
Major Tony Singh, Commanding Officer of 31 Canadian Forces Health Services Centre at CFB Borden, spoke of World War II, and the contributions of the men and women who served “so far from our shores.”
Singh noted, “We all know war is a time of great uncertainty and fear,” yet young Canadians went overseas to fight “for freedom and for peace.” Veterans, he said, “are truly exceptional individuals.”
He spoke of the Battle of the Atlantic, “the largest and most complex naval battle in history;” the 125,000 Canadians who served on Peacekeeping missions around the world; the veterans of Afghanistan and other actions.
“Military operations are not confined to foreign soil,” the Major said, noting that even at home and in peacetime, lives can be lost, in training and accidents. “There are still Canadians risking their lives and losing their lives.”
At home, the Armed Forces respond to natural disasters, to calls for search and rescue, and other assistance. This year has been challenging, with the military called in to help in the fight against COVID-19, in long term care facilities.
“It may not appear as glamourous as serving overseas,” Singh said, but “Canadians needed our help, and that’s what we did… Time and time again, we leave behind our families and our comfort for the greater good.”
For Alan Leslie, a veteran with 21 years of service in the Royal Canadian Navy, and president of the Sandycove Veterans Association, Remembrance means family.
Leslie’s grandfathers served in the First World War, his mother’s father and uncles fought in the Second World War. “There’s a long history of being there, in my family,” he said, adding, “I was in a war, but it was a Cold War.”
He called on Canadians to remember “those who sacrificed everything, and those who need our help today.”
“It’s one day a year when the nation gets together as one to remember what our comrades have done,” said Fern Taillefer, 22-year veteran of the Armed Forces and president of the Ontario chapter of the Canadian Association of Veterans of UN Peacekeeping (CAVUNP).
For Fred White, a Vehicle Technician who served 38 years in the military, including two tours of duty in Afghanistan, Remembrance should include a salute to the families of veterans, so important in maintaining the morale of those who serve, and acknowledgement of those who have returned but are still suffering.
PTSD, said White, “is very real. We need to be aware of that.”
While in the Armed Forces, there is a “military family… You share a special bond with those people;” but back at home, away from that support, it can be difficult to recover from “the intensity when people are deployed, especially in combat,” White said.
He called on Canadians to remember the fallen, but “also those who come home and are still paying that sacrifice…. To the families, to the fallen – again, I pay homage to them.”
Denis Mainville, a veteran of the Gulf War, spoke of the importance of the work of the Lefroy Legion Branch 547, not only in maintaining Innisfil’s three cenotaphs, but also supporting its veterans.
The cenotaphs are important, he said, “to uphold the memories ad keep up the traditions,” but support for vets is key. “We have live veterans who still suffer today.”
Mainville noted that all too often, veterans go unrecognized for their service. “We are proud, but there are times we cannot advertise who we are. We speak a language that a lot of people don’t understand... Let’s communicate.”
Marine Engineer Steve Gable was asked to speak about “Resilience,” but acknowledged, “I’m not exactly sure what that is supposed to mean.”
Men and women join the Armed forces for many reasons, but ‘resilience’ is not part of the military tradition, he said. Instead, a military unit “becomes a family, and you support one another,” Gable said. Outside of that ‘family,’ veterans can be left to “suck it up, move on and get it done, and that can be very challenging.”
Gable suggested that ‘resilience’ has its place in the greater community – reaching out in time of crisis, to “embrace each other and assist each other.”
Rotarians shared their own family memories, of service and sacrifice.
Rotary president Anne Smith noted that her husband’s grandfather, Arthur Lee, served in the First World War as a frontline medic; his daily diary “is one of our family’s most treasured possessions.”
Sue Gilchrist’s uncle Jim Adair, an amateur boxer, joined the Royal Air Force in Britain. Serving in North Africa, he became his Unit’s boxing champion, when General Montgomery set up matches to boost the troops’ morale – but the family’s favourite story was of Adair’s return to London, on leave.
It was during the Blitz. The family opened the door, to find Adair bleeding, cut and bruised. Fearing that he had been hit by a bomb blast and was critically injured, family members rushed him inside, and laid him on the kitchen table, to treat his wounds.
That was when they realized what really happened: Adair had been celebrating his leave with his buddies; drunk, he tripped over a curb and fell on his face - “and that accounted for his ‘wounds’,” said Al Gilchrist.
Adair was later shipped to Singapore, where he was captured and spent the rest of the war as a POW, under horrifying conditions. “He never talked about it,” said Gilchrist.
Rotarian Dr. Doug Jernigan, a dual Canadian-U.S. citizen, who served in the American military stateside during the Vietnam War, remembered family members who served and fell, or returned “but were never the same” – in the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean conflict, and Vietnam.
“We are surrounded by the living who gave so much,” Jernigan said. “It is up to us who are alive and remain to enshrine their memories and never forget.”
