Innisfail legion members and community leaders proudly paused to honour Canada's military men and women who answered the call of duty for a decade of sacrifice in Afghanistan – a day hurriedly declared earlier this year by the federal government as the National Day of Honour.
“Our legion sees today as a day to pay tribute to the fallen, the sacrifices of the wounded and the special burden borne by military families,” said Del Seabrook, president of Innisfail Royal Canadian Legion Branch 104 during a 40-minute service. “No one will ever forget the 158 men and women that travelled the Highway of Heroes. We must remember the 1,483 men and women that were physically wounded, or the unknown victims (and) the veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.”
With rain threatening in the morning and early afternoon last Friday (May 9) legion members were uncertain whether a full service would be possible at the cenotaph, which underwent a $12,900 restoration this month. But the rain held off, and after the singing of the national anthem and opening speeches by Seabrook and Coun. Doug Bos, the town's current deputy mayor, a party of about 50 solemnly marched outside to the cenotaph.
The Last Post was then played, followed by a two-minute silence. Then there was the Reveille. The Act of Remembrance was read, followed by the Laying of the Wreath. And finally, the Royal Anthem of Canada was played before members of the gallery were asked to lay poppies by the wreath.
“This is extremely important because it took years before they recognized the fact that we had a Korean War,” said Korean War veteran Doug Whorrall who was dressed in his full military uniform for the ceremony.
“All those killed in Afghanistan have their names inscribed on the memorial wall in Peacekeeper Park in Calgary, and they are the only ones east of Ontario that are all inscribed on the wall because they were considered peacekeepers,” he said. “But you couldn't consider them peacekeepers if 158 were killed and 1,483 were wounded.”
Seabrook said he would like to see the National Day of Honour for the Afghan veterans become an annual event but added legions and citizens across the country should be given better notice, which wasn't the case this year.
“I think the problem we had was that the government did not give us much time to organize and for lots of people it is a time of day when not everybody can drop work or from their daily chores,” said Seabrook. “I think with a little more time it will become a larger event for sure.”
However, Bos said he did not want to see the National Day of Honour held as an annual event. He said it was better to celebrate the day as a way to recognize that Canada's military participation in the conflict in Afghanistan is over.
“We don't want to go to Afghanistan every year to make it an annual event. This is celebrating the end of the mission, and hopefully it's not like Remembrance Day to remember on an annual basis,” said Bos. “It is nice to have the mission done in Afghanistan and those people can come home to be with friends and family.”
