Most Memorable Rememberance Day Service

[observor 69]

I live in the Greater Toronto Area and am wondering if there are some particularly good locations to experience the Remembrance Day service. Any one have any favourites?
Or have any past services that stick out in your memory?  Many years ago, the 60's, I saw the service in London, England. Back then the British military was much larger than now and regiment after regiment marched on, some at the trail arms others jogging.
But to be truthful the one that sticks out is my last one while I was in the military and posted at Kingston. I was part of a small party sent to Napanee, Ontario.  Small town, good turnout, crisp day and leaves blowing around. I accompanied a young school boy as he laid a wreath. Afterwards the ladies auxiliary had a great meal laid on for us at the Legion.  ;D

 

[kincanucks]

All of them.  Lest we forget.

 

[foresterab]

Three in particular stand out...

While in University the professor schedualing the class and proceeding to lecture on the Canadian Forestry Corp. of WW1 and WW2...followed by 2 minutes of silence...then a second pause of rememberance for Beaumont Hamel.  Best soil science class we had.

8 years ago I'm back home and a family friend stands up to talk...my thought was Ben is just filling in for another minister as he's a retired priest from England.  At which point he started to talk about what it meant to him...Ben..I hope I still have all this right.
"Following enlistmen in the British RAF I spent the first 3 years of the war in Africa flying in bombers.  Following the slowdown in the North Africa fight we rotated back to England and started flying over Europe.  Trip number 13 we're flying a night mission to Berlin in a Halifax Mark II bomber callsign G for George when a loud band is heard nearby...and we don't know what's going on as planes are falling around us and we can see flak and Germa night fighters.  A second bang and we get the command..Bail Out!.  I was the second man out of the plane...opened my chute and saw one of the other gunners come out the plane..but as he exited the plane he caught on fire and I had to watch my friend go down in a stream of flame.  I looked up to see the plane explode above my head...two survivors.  Unfortunately we'd been flying this route a few days and with the damage to the area the locals weren't happy...I landed and promptly was mobbed by an angry crowd who had a pitchfork to my throat.  Two German Policeman had seen me come down and with drawn pistols extracted me from the mob and locked me up in the town jail.  That night the police told me my sole remaining friend was killed by a mob and I was the lone survivor of the plane crew.   A couple of days later I start my journy to a POW camp and we get let out of the boxcar for exercise...right beside a town bombed the night before.  A mob started throwing rocks at us while our guards tried to hold them off...eventually we got in the boxcar and the gaurds locked us in for our own safety...the mob stayed outside rocking the boxcar while we prayed the guards got help.  I eventually made it safely to the POW camp and spent the remainder of the war there, found god and tried to return something for all the horror I saw."
It's still one of the bravest acts I've ever seen to see this peacefull man bare his soul to a crowd of strangers in order to share while he still can..

And spending rememberance day a couple years ago with some fellows from CFB Edmonton on mid-tour leave from Afganistan...

 

[BernDawg]

I have 2 memorable ceremonies that really stand out.

Many moons ago I was asked if I would volunteer to play last post for the Four and Ex organization in Winnipeg.  Of course I said yes and was then informed that my timing was 1830 at the armouries.  I asked the Drummy if that wasn't a Little late in the day and he replied "Oh no 1830 on the 10th of Nov."  WTF??  So I met my timing and discovered that the Four and Ex is entirely composed of combat vets and they have the distinction of being the first unit to parade on Nov 11 at 0001 hrs of course that is after one hell of a mess dinner.  I was honoured to play for these men and simply awestruck to be in their presence.  I will never forget that day.  After all the "fine" treatment they gave me that night it's amazing that I even could play at midnight but I did and they liked it.

The other one that stands out is the one we did in Alert in 05.  Probably the same thing happens every year but for me it was special to be there outside at the memorial to the Herc crash with the graves of the Lanc crew that crashed in the 50's in sight at 1100 in total darkness and -25 (or thereabouts).  There we were reinforcing what we were all about once again.  Not one person complaned about it, not one.

We shall remember them.

 

[geo]

Not on rememberance day but... a visit to the military cemetaries in the area around Flanders & Ypres

The sheer numbers of dead boggles the mind.  Oh what a waste !

 

[OldTanker]

Not a service but a personal tradition. Every Remembrance Day I listen to the CD "The Anzacs" by Ted Egan. Not Canadian, but the same sentiments. I never get through it all without choking up. In fact, I think I will listen to it now just to get warmed up for the day.

 

[ModlrMike]

Last year. I'm not sure memorable is the right word... perhaps poignant. It was the first Remembrance day after my Afghanistan tour where we lost a young soldier who had occasionally worked for me. In spite of my almost thirty years of service, and countless parades as a child and teen, it wasn't until that ceremony that the real meaning of the day struck home. I had always tried my best to remember those who had gone before, but I have to admit now, that those attempts were rather hollow as I didn't have any real connection to those troops. I will always remember the young man who lost his life serving others. I don't mean to sound trite or cliche, but the good truly do die young. Too young.

 

[a78jumper]

Kabul 2003. Sgt Rob Short  and Cpl Rob Beerenfenger had been killed  in early October. I did see Cpl B's grave at the National Military Cemetary when I visited my brother in-law's
two years ago. Given both died within a month of each other they are buried quite close together.

Seeing Gatwick Airport come to a complete halt while en route back to Edmonton after TD in England in 1991 was a close second.

And I NEVER will forget visiting Grosbeck Canadian cemetary in 1990, even though that was in April.

 

[Big Foot]

Without a doubt, today's (9 November) service at the Cataraqui Cemetary here in Kingston will always stick out in my mind. I had the honour of commanding the cenotaph party for this parade, and the experience of being a vigil was simply astounding. Words cannot describe how it made me feel. I am just extremely thankful to have had the opportunity to take part in, much less command, the cenotaph party. I will never forget this experience. The Kingston Whig-Standard has prepared an excellent slideshow of this ceremony and it can be found here.

 

[observor 69]

While not a Remembrance day event I always got a chill listening to "Frederick Forsyth's "The Shepherd", read by the late Alan Maitland" on CBC.


http://www.dudseascrawls.com/node/3542

 

[GUNS]

This happened while I was posted to Lahr. One Remembrance Day after all the ceremonies were completed I happened to speak to a WW II German veteran, Gunter. He was an anti-tank gunner during the Normandy invasion. As he told me stories of his exploits during those days I was spellbound. He had some amazing stories of the fight through Hedgerow country in France. He spoke proudly of his time in service during the war.
To make a long story short, I was invited to his home for supper that following weekend. I had a wonderful Germain supper with Gunter and his wife. After supper Gunter took me up stairs to a locked room. The room was a shrine to his time in the German Army during the war. He had his old kit, uniform, weapon, medals, Nazi flags. I was at a loss for words.
We sat down with a box of warm Hatz beer and snapps and he told me stories of the war for hours. He cried, he laughed, he paused every now and then to just remember.
He was captured shortly after the Normandy invasion and he was so delighted to be out of the war, but his stories of the POW camp and how they were treated were worst than his stories of the war.
I had to admire this German Veteran, he was a simple soldier doing as ordered. He held no ill-will towards Allied soldiers as he explained to me, they were only doing as ordered as well.
This man was a very proud Veteran and my meeting him will remain with me forever. I felt uncomfortable when I asked him about the concentration camps but I had to ask. Gunter looked me in the eyes, as his eyes swelled up with tears, then he lowered his head and shrugged his shoulders.
My perception of WW II changed after that. Sorry for babbling on but every Remembrance Day, Gunter comes to mine.

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

Afghanistan
FOB Zettelmeyer
followed by mortars

 

[pbi]

Bagram, 2004. We organized a small outdoor service from all the various multi-national LOs and detatchments with CJTF76, and some from ISAF. We built a cenotaph out of rifles and helmets from the different nationalities. The CJTF76 Commander and his Comd Sgt Maj attended, along with a small but curious group of US types. The service was read by the Div Chap of CJTF76. We formed hollow square, and went through all the normal Remembrance routines. At one point, led by the US General, the leader of each national contngent read out a few names of soldiers of their nation killed in action (mostly but not all in either Afgh or Iraq). Some of the nations had never participated in anything like this before, but everybody was moved by it.

Cheers

 

[Roy Harding]

Baktaran, Iran - 1988.  The entire squadron quietly sitting in the dark in the QM tent - having our two beer per man.  It was dark, and we were quiet because having beer could get you killed in that place, at that time (I don't imagine it's changed much, either).

 

[DavidAkin]

I just returned from the National Ceremony of Remembrance in Ottawa and -- wow -- you couldn't believe the tens of thousands that came out. I spoke to several veterans who were floored by the attendance. The last several years in Ottawa have been very wet but today it was cool but bright and sunny. A remarkable turnout. And then, during the Benediction, there was loud and spontaneous applause from the crowd when Rabbi Reuven Bulka exhorted the crowd to say "We love our troops." Remarkable.

 

[Hawk]

My most memorable Remembrance Day Service happened in 1979. My son was not-quite 4 months old, and attending his very first service with his Grandpa-WWII Vet and Grandma. We were at the ANAF in Brandon, MB just milling around before everyone went to the service. My Dad comes over to Mom, Baby and me with a poppy in his hand and pins it on his youngest grandson's snowsuit, and says to me, "Always make him wear a poppy. If we let his generation forget, we can let it happen again." Dad's look was far away, I think likely with his fallen comrades. That child's now grown, and wears a poppy every year, as I do, to honour Dad, and all like him. My son remembers, unfortunately not all Canadians do. But this is no day for that.

Best wishes to all Vets and serving members


Hawk

 

[CADPAT SOLDIER]

This years was pretty memorable, Is it common to have a 3-volley salute in an indoor arena?

 

[aratofsomesort]

This one....

22 yrs in Cf..
I was tasked for a work party. I was setting up dias and flags and several people stopped to thank me and my co worker for serving my country

 

[Flip]

The salute fired at the legislative grounds in Edmonton is usually
a hint to get out of bed.

This year, I went for the first time.

Noticing service medals on some very young looking
people took my breath for a second.

Next year, I'll drag some nephews along.


Regards all,

 

[Thompson_JM]

Last Year and This years were both hard to forget...

Last year in wainwright... in the training area, after a Zetlemyer cleared the snow off the Hill near Maint at Fake KAF. Cold Miserable day, but it was very moving.. probably the most emotional one Ive been too.. All service pers. no civilians... and all of us on predeployment, remembering. Remembering those who fell, those we knew, and those who would be over soon....

This year, My First as a Veteran... Remembering the 22 on my Roto who didn't come home. Escorting Mark Grahams Mother to the Cenotaph. The Large LARGE! Turnout for our otherwise small sleepy town of Dundas.

Although it was hard to keep the tears back at times, I cant recall a time when I have ever been so proud to be a member of the CF, and have the privilege of serving with some of the best Canada has to offer.