THUNDER BAY – Being surrounded by thousands of people who come together every year to honour those who put their lives on the line for their country never loses meaning for Ken MacKay.
The Royal Canadian Navy veteran of the Second World War said the respect shown to the country’s soldiers and their families, as shown by an estimated crowd of as many as 4,000 people who filled the Fort Williams Gardens for Saturday’s Remembrance Day ceremonies, demonstrates those sacrifices truly matter.
“I’m overwhelmed by the way people are paying attention to the veterans now. It’s getting more and more every year,” McKay said. “Say, 25 years ago, there wasn’t this attention to the veterans they’re getting now.”
MacKay, along with fellow Second World War veteran Mo Nelson, took the salute during the march off as the ceremony drew to a close with standing ovations from the audience.
The ceremony began with a parade marched into the Gardens, led by the colour parties. That was followed by the playing of the Last Post and a three-gun volley salute before the laying of wreaths and closing with a reading of In Flanders Fields, a ceremonial passing of the torch and the march off.
“I think every year they’re becoming more and more in the hearts of the Canadian people and the wonderful people of Thunder Bay who always remember,” Nelson, 96, said.
“I think of two of my first cousins who were killed and my two brothers who each served – one in the Army and one in the Air Force – and are both dead. I think of all those veterans and all the effort Canada put into both of those wars.”
MacKay served aboard HMCS St. Thomas – a corvette tasked with allowing convoys to make safe passage across a treacherous Atlantic Ocean where the threat of German U-boats and warships was ever present.
His ship was able to sink a German U-boat but not before a few tense moments for him and his fellow sailors.
“I know when we were going to ram the submarine first until we knew it was damaged, I was in charge of the forward boiler room and that was the most vulnerable part of the ship at that time,” MacKay said. “All of us were pretty nervous.”
Maureen Schmidt, the Silver Cross Mother who laid the first wreath, had three stepbrothers serve with one killed at only 18 during the liberation of the Netherlands. As well, her brother had a military career lasting more than three decades that included overseas peacekeeping missions in Cyprus and Egypt.
“Totally life changing,” Schmidt said when asked about the impact on family members of having relatives serve in the armed forces.
“My brother that spent 34 years was a totally different fellow when he came out after he served.”
MacKay said he is one of three members of the ship to still be alive, making it extremely important to share the significance of Remembrance Day.
“It brings back a lot of memories, not only of my service in the war but also I lost some friends in the war. It always brings that back to me,” MacKay said.
