THUNDER BAY – For veterans at the Fort William Gardens Remembrance Day ceremony, honouring the memories of the thousands of Canadians who served and sacrificed in armed conflicts is far more than a one-day task.
Delivering a keynote address Saturday, Mayor Jim Payne of Superior, Wisconsin, himself a veteran of the U.S. military, described remembrance as a year-long calling.
He urged attendees honour the sacrifices of the fallen by working to build a more peaceful world.
“The sacrifices of the men and women we remember today were acts of such faith and devotion that no expression is ever truly sufficient to remember them,” he said. “The only way we can ever truly remember and respect them is to revere them with our actions.”
“It’s our duty today when this service ends, when the wreaths are collected, when we reach the 12th hour, the 12th day, the 12th month, to live our lives in service worthy of their sacrifices.”
That message resonated for Cde. Elmer Auld, a World War II veteran who served with the Canadian Navy in the Battle of the Atlantic.
“He's right,” said Auld. “I pretty well think of it every day, too. I can still see all those men in the water, all those ships that were sunk. Terrible.”
After joining before his 18th birthday, Auld trained in Port Arthur before being sent to the West Coast for further training in submarine detection.
He went on to make dozens of trips across the Atlantic, serving aboard the minesweeper HMCS Burlington, the Q94, a Fairmile motor launch ship, and the corvette HMCS Giffard.
Auld says those memories are never far away, particularly on Remembrance Day.
“I see all my friends and some of the ships that got torpedoed,” he said. “I was in the water for an hour when the HMCS Valleyfield went down. They tied a rope around us and put us over the side, trying to pull the guys out of the water. You never forget it.”
The Valleyfield was sunk by a German U-Boat on May 7, 1944 southeast of Newfoundland, going down in under four minutes.
At 99 years old, Auld called himself lucky to be one of a few remaining World War II vets.
He said he was honoured to be included in the torch-passing ceremony at the Gardens, after which he was recognized with a booming round of applause from attendees.
“It was super. I think I’m probably the oldest legionnaire in Canada, and after eighty years they finally asked me,” he joked. “It was really wonderful.”
Pte. Kaitlyn Buhler, a reservist with Thunder Bay’s 18 Service Battalion, said being handed the torch by Auld during the ceremony was a humbling experience.
“It was such an honour to have that pass-over, especially to represent the Reserves here as a whole,” she said. “The whole ceremony is just really meaningful… It’s really important, so I feel really honored to do this.”
“I’m just thinking about everyone in the past who has served and the sacrifice they made for the country, for us. I’m here to honor them and continue that, keep that with us.”
Parade commander Roy L’Esperance, president of the Army, Navy & Air Force Veterans in Canada (ANAVETS) Unit 257, also appreciated Payne’s message about year-round remembrance.
L'Esperance, who served in the naval reserves in the 1960s, said he was thinking about the sacrifice of his father, who served in the navy during World War II, and his generation.
“It’s very important to me because my dad, his friends – I mean, they never talked about the battles… but they gave up their teenage years. Instead of getting married and having kids, going to work, they were going to Europe.”
“I think about him all the time, too, not just Remembrance Day… To me, we should be remembering all the time.”
Organizers estimated around 2,000 people attended the Gardens ceremony.
Local ceremonies were also held Saturday at Waverly Park, the Slovak Legion, and Mount McKay.
