Hundreds of Westlock and area residents took part in the two major Remembrance Day ceremonies last Sunday to honour the sacrifices made by this country’s veterans.
Westlock Legion president Chuck Naylor addressed a crowd gathered at the Westlock & District Community Hall and praised Canada’s veterans for the services they have provided.
“They have woven a fabric that encompasses our Canadian code of honour, a Canadian code of pride, a Canadian code of accomplishment,” he said. “By their service record to the free world, they formed the moral backbone that is interwoven and embodied in our Canadian flag.”
Roughly 550 people attended the ceremony in Westlock, which was marked by many of the expected features. A colour party marched in, Naylor spoke of the importance of veterans, Legion Chaplain Marjorie Steele said a prayer and Brent Marshall from the Westlock Community Church of Christ delivered a sermon.
Representatives laid wreaths on behalf of dozens of organizations —both governmental and non-governmental — along with a handful of people laying wreaths in memory of loved ones.
Following the service at the hall, Steele held a short service with wreaths being laid at the cenotaph outside the Heritage Building in Westlock, although only eight people braved the chilly weather to take part.
About 50 people turned out for the annual Clyde Remembrance Day service, including a handful of soldiers from the Lord Strathcona Regiment.
Due to the cold weather, the majority of the Clyde ceremony was held indoors at the Clyde Community Hall, though a small group did head outside to the cenotaph to pin poppies on a wreath laid by the Strathcona Regiment.
Representatives of the village, RCMP, the Strathcona Regiment and different organizations within the village laid wreaths at a metal stand at the front of the hall. The ceremony was led by Isaac Brower-Berkhoven, a member of the Evergreen Lodge of the Masons. Aside from the usual readings of In Flanders Fields and singing of hymns, Brower-Berkhoven also read from a report by a friend of his, an RCMP Staff Sgt. named Larry Burden.
Burden’s great-grandfather had fought at Flanders Field in the First World War and his grandfather had served in the Second World War. He later visited there as an RCMP officer.
“ ‘Over 80 years after World War One, I returned to this hallowed ground as the guest of the Mounted Police to see firsthand the land of John McCrae and Flanders Field,’” he said.
Brower-Berkhoven related how Burden was surprised that Flanders Field was an entire region, and that names like Passchendaele were, in fact, communities. He also told how the RCMP officer had visited the museums and memorials.
Burden remarked how he was struck how a memorial containing the names of Canadian soldiers who died in the First World War were from across the country.
“ ‘Until now, I had not appreciated the sacrifice my country had made in this bloody war. Canada had proportionally sacrificed more of her sons — 60,000 in the First World War — than any other country in the British Empire.’”
The visit gave the officer chance to reflect on the hardship of his great-grandfather living in the trenches amidst the gas, rats and artillery.
“ ‘Had he not survived this place, I would not be here today,’” he said.
