Special tribute
Charlottetown honours courage, sacrifice of its veterans.
Ryan Gallant still remembers the most touching moment he experienced while working as a student guide at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in northern France.
Gallant was in the visitors’ centre when he was approached by a French motorcyclist about two years ago.
While Gallant’s initial reaction was that the motorcyclist didn’t seem like someone who would be interested in the site’s history, that soon changed when the motorcyclist asked him if he was Canadian. When Gallant said yes, the motorcyclist responded with tears in his eyes.
“(He said) ‘it is perhaps because of your grandparents that I am French. Thank you’. Above all my experiences at Vimy and visiting battlefields all across Europe that confirmed for me the courage and sacrifice of Canadian men and women lives on in the hearts and minds of all those that remember."
Ryan Gallant
“(He said) ‘it is perhaps because of your grandparents that I am French. Thank you’,” Gallant said during a Tribute to Veterans at the Confederation Centre of the Arts’ Homburg Theatre on Sunday.
“Above all my experiences at Vimy and visiting battlefields all across Europe that confirmed for me the courage and sacrifice of Canadian men and women lives on in the hearts and minds of all those that remember.”
Courage and sacrifice from all Canadian soldiers during every conflict was honoured the municipality’s Tribute To Veterans on Sunday.
Mayor Clifford Lee said it was an opportunity to recognize the contribution veterans had made to the country’s freedoms as well as their overall contribution to world peace.
“The recent tragic events in Quebec and Ottawa this past week have reminded us of how quickly this freedom can be taken away from us,” said Lee. “All Canadians in this country as a whole owe a great deal of gratitude to all of the young men and women who have served and who continue to serve.”
Much of the event consisted of music, a re-enactment and the launch of the Royal Canadian Legion’s poppy campaign.
One of the more emotional moments came when Gallant, Tony Enserink, Bill Monteith and Chief Warrant Officer Shawn Patterson provided perspectives on the First World War, Second World War, Korean War and Afghanistan Mission.
Enserink, who has lived in P.E.I. for the past 60 years, recalled growing up in a small village in the Netherlands that was liberated by Canadians during the Second World War.
“I hope the Canadian Forces still leave the same impression on people anywhere in the world as they did to the Dutch,” he said.
“I say again, thank you very much, from all the Dutch and from me.”