Canadian and American Cadets come together in Lethbridge to honour soldiers

More than 200 Cadets from both Canada and the United Sates came together to honour soldiers from both countries and to recognize a long standing alliance Saturday.

The Honouring Allies and Remembering Together (HART) ceremony recognizes the legacy and service of all veterans on both sides of the Canadian and United States border, particularly those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

“It’s nice to thank them for their contributions, as well as be thanked for ours,” Matt DeMaere, Royal Canadian Air Cadet, said.

From humble beginnings at the Coutts border crossing six-years ago, the ceremony has grown to the largest joint observance in North America. It attracts over 200 sea, air and army cadets from St. Albert, Alta. to Littleton, Colorado.

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“A lot of people my age don’t really understand what it’s like to not have freedoms, and to have to physically fight for them,” DaMaere said. “It makes me very appreciative that I didn’t have to, and that people my age don’t have to live through those horrors. It also makes me really sad, because back then, people my age did.  Young men and women did have to do that, so it just really puts it into perspective that we take a lot for granted. It’s nice to just give two minutes of silence every year to remember.”

 “It’s amazing just to see all these young people paying tribute to our lost sons and daughter,” Candys Mackenzie, Memorial Cross mother, said. “It makes us feel like it was all worth it.”

Share this on X Click to share quote on X:  "It's amazing just to see all these young people paying tribute to our lost sons and daughter," Candys Mackenzie, Memorial Cross mother, said. "It makes us feel like it was all worth it."

Four Memorial Cross families were honoured at the ceremony, each having lost a son or daughter, some as young as just 22-years-old.

“This is why we remember their children because they lived, and they sacrificed for us,” Darlene LaRoche, vice president of Air Cadet League of Canada, said. “They need to be talked about, they don’t need to be forgotten.”

“It’s not that they just honour them (fallen soldiers) one day of the year,” Mackenzie said. “It’s like that remembrance is there all year long, just like it is for us.”

The HART ceremony is one part of the recognition of those who have fought and died for our freedom from both sides of the border.