LEST WE FORGET
Remembrance ceremonies
Relief.
That’s what Bob Cade felt when, after two years of serving in Germany during the Cold War, he knew he wouldn’t have to go into combat.
“Wars are terrible and nobody in their right minds wants to go to war — the military in particular because they’re the ones that have to go,” said Cade, now a retired lieutenant-colonel. “So, when something eases off ... that’s a great sigh of relief.”
Cade joined the army when he was 19 years old. In 1949, he served as a reservist in Winnipeg. In 1951, after NATO was formed in the wake of the Second World War to prevent further communist expansion, Cade and his fellow Winnipeg Rifles were sent to Germany. They spent the next two years training, practising infantry tactics, studying their enemies and learning about nuclear war.
“We were always prepared to go to war,” said Cade. But they hoped it would never happen.
He remembers seeing enemy tanks and feeling relieved that they didn’t have to try to defeat them. He also recalls driving in the former East Germany and seeing the wire separating them from the Germans and Russians on the other side.
“Their freedom was very restricted,” said Cade.
“For a young man, it scared me and I was so grateful that I wasn’t on that side of the wall and that I was ... looked after,” he said. “It certainly gave me a greater appreciation of people and life.”
After spending 61 years in uniform, Cade now leads the Veterans Company every year in the parade at the annual Remembrance Day Service at the Brandt Centre.
He said while it’s nice to remember those who fought and died or were injured in the First and Second World Wars, there are many veterans who have served bravely since then who should be recognized.
“They are also people to be respected and say thank you (to) because if something happens tomorrow, they’re the ones that are going,” said Cade.
Also volunteering at the service was Oscar Burdick. He is the highest rank in his 703 Optimist cadet squadron and has been volunteering at the service for the past seven years.
Most years, he marches in the parade and helps organize his squadron, but this year he was tasked with escorting a dignitary. Before cadets, he marched in the parade with his Scouts group.
“My grandfather on my mom’s side was in (the Second World War),” said Burdick. “He was an electrician and so that’s in my family.”
He encourages all young people to get involved in the Remembrance Day service, whether it’s attending or volunteering, and said it’s important for kids to be well educated at a young age about why the day is important.
That is something Jasmine Hawken is already doing with her two sons.
“I think it’s (about) remembering and being respectful,” said Hawken, “knowing our history and just the integrity that all the people have that have fought and represented our country.”
Hawken and her sons, who are four and seven years old, attended this year’s service at the cenotaph in Victoria Park. She said they’ve been coming since they were born.
“We’ve been out here when it’s been minus 25 — these guys in their snowsuits,” said Hawken. “We come every year, doesn’t matter what the weather is.”
Hundreds gathered in remembrance both in Victoria Park and the Brandt Centre on Saturday. Whether indoors or out, the goal was the same — to honour the sacrifice of others that allow us the freedoms we have today.
“The fact that you have the right of religion ... the right to speak out and assemble — a veteran got that for you,” said Cade. “The right to teach, whatever you look at and say, ‘These are mine,’ a veteran made that happen.”