HONOURING OUR VETERANS
Hundreds pay their respects
On the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, veterans young and old and their supporters from throughout the community gathered at Sasktel Centre to pay their respects.
For some, Sunday ’s service — despite being a centennial ceremony — was just one more way to pay their dues to Canada’s veterans. For others, the anniversary ceremony represented success.
“It’s 100 years old now ... it means a lot that we’ve carried on our freedom for that long,” Vern Martens said.
Vern and Shannon Martens were in the crowd before the parade to start the ceremony began. Vern Martens served as a weapons technician based out of Saskatoon with a service battalion, and Shannon Martens was stationed with the service battalion in Regina and went overseas to Bosnia in 1993.
Standing behind all the dignitaries, Glen Toomer with the Royal Canadian Legion Saskatoon Branch 63 watched with joy and pride as veterans filed into the building. Toomer said a lot of what the legion does is help veterans in any way that it can, and attending this event was the greatest way the public could participate.
“It just fills my heart ... it’s pride, that’s what it is,” he said. “It’s a big milestone, but it’s just a chance to bring our veterans together. It’s the only time you’ll get to see everyone together at once.”
The ceremony went on like most before it, starting with the parade featuring representatives from all different military service and support branches, as well as the many cadet corps in Saskatoon. After the parade made its way into the main area, Aaron Vopni played The Last Post and Reveille on a bugle older than the First World War.
The entire event was a time to remember, reflect and show respect for members of Canada’s Armed Forces past and present. For Connie Hill, that meant remembering her Second World War-veteran father Lloyd Weston Carr, her late brother Lloyd Harold Carr Jr., and all the other memories of her family who served.
Hill recalled one of her most vivid memories of her father, from when the family attended the Remembrance Day ceremony in Weyburn when she was young. She said she remembered complaining to her father about the cold, and his response would always stick with her.
“He said, ‘If I can stand in cold, wet trenches, you can stand here in the cold for 20 minutes to respect those that have fallen,’ ” she said. “Every time I think of Remembrance Day, I think of dad and what he told us.”