The remembrance ceremony at Ste. Anne’s veterans hospital brings a lot of memories for Anna-Marie Kirwin.
“It’s very emotional,” said Kirwin, a veteran of the Second World War.
The ceremony reminds Kirwin of her late husband, whom she met while in service for the Royal Canadian Air Force and of the “wonderful life” she has lived.
“God has been good to me,” said Kirwin, a mother of 10. But she also remembers the horrors of the war.
“We don’t want that to happen again. No more wars,” she said through tears. “All the young people that were lost. A generation of young men was lost.”
Kirwin was one of several veterans present at the ceremony.
Bagpipers performed and John McCrae’s poem, “In Flanders Fields”, was read.
There was also a prayer and a moment of silence for those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom and for those who served and are still among us. Wreaths were also laid.
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“I think they feel like it’s a privilege to still be alive and among us after all these years, because most of their comrades died at a very young age and most of them feel survivor’s guilt,” said Geneviève Richer, chief of medical services at Ste. Anne’s Hospital.
Richer believes the ceremonies help veterans overcome the trauma their experiences at war have left.
One clear example of that for Richer happened when she brought one of her patients to visit Normandy, France, for the 75th anniversary of D-Day, when Allied forces stormed the beach in order to liberate Europe from Nazi occupation.
She says one of her patients who attended insisted on feeling the water.
“He said, ‘Bring me to the sea, I need to feel the beach to exorcize my demons,’ and we did. We brought him to the water and it was a very, very touching experience,” Richer said.
But veterans say they fear younger generations are not taught enough about that history.
“It’s a reminder of what other people have done for the country,” said Noreen Griffith, who was stationed in Halifax during the Second World War, delivering messages for ships and planes.
“The risk of not knowing is making some fatal mistakes.”
As more and more veterans of the Second World War and the Korean War are passing away, younger veterans such as Brian Davidson hope the memories of their sacrifices don’t fade away, too.
“I know it’s hard to say, you know, to repeat yourself, ‘Let us never forget, let us always remember,’ but we have to do it because we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them,” said Davidson.
Davidson hopes people take time to remember their sacrifices beyond this week.
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