The yearly event remembers RCMP members who have lost their lives while on duty. This year, one more name was inscribed on the cenotaph.
Thirty-two-year-old Const. Sarah Ann Beckett was killed in a motor vehicle accident in Langford, B.C in April.
Beckett’s death brings the total to 237 people who have lost their lives while in uniform.
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“We need to keep their memory (alive) and to do that, every year we have the ceremony on the second Sunday of every September,” RCMP “Depot” Division representative 2-Sgt. Janie Perrault said.
“We need to honour them, pay respect to them.”
Saskatchewan’s Lieutenant Governor Vaughn Solomon Schofield joined RCMP commissioner Bob Paulson and a family representative in laying wreaths at the base of the cenotaph, in honour of Const. Beckett.
“It’s important for the families who are here. It’s important for the people who have died and it’s important for the cadets too, to learn what people have done,” Perrault explained.
Bob Buday is a representative for families of the deceased. On Sunday, Buday is reminded of his brother, Const. Michael Buday. He was killed in action over 30 years ago.
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“I have to say it gets easier, but something can trigger it. When I was in Terrace, just seeing all the members there, the dog team, it triggered. All of a sudden I was back in the cemetery in 1985,” he remembered.
Buday said he understands what families go through. He said the loss of a family member is a cross he carries as well.
He said the memorial service can help heal those deep wounds.
“I’ve seen what it does for families and we need this,” he said.
“We need to come together once a year and share and renew. It’s been a very positive thing.”
Buday said the annual memorial serves as a reminder of the 237 brave men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice for Canada.
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