What does Remembrance Day mean to you personally?
It gives us an opportunity to recognize and thank the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice so that people around the world enjoy the many freedoms we have today.
What is your personal most significant memory associated with Remembrance Day?
Personally it is the pride I have in my Dad who was a peacekeeper after the war and his dedication and involvement to activities around Remembrance Day and our local Legion branch.
Why is pausing each year to mark the contributions of our veterans important?
It is important to take a step back and remember because it should never be forgotten that people have sacrificed their lives for the rights and freedoms we enjoy today.
What does Remembrance Day mean to you personally?
A number of years ago, I worked in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Kenya and Zambia. During my travels, I learned that, even after independence, these countries did not enjoy the rights we take for granted. On Remembrance Day, then, I look back to that time in Africa and reflect how fortunate we are to live in Canada, how thankful I am that our veterans have ensured a life of freedom for all Canadians.
What is your personal most significant memory associated with Remembrance Day?
I remember the stories of my uncle, Jimmy Wintonyk, a veteran of the Second World War. He told us how happy he was when the fighting ended, how happy he was to be back in Canada, back in his home town of Stornoway. My family always talked of the men and women who left their homes and families to make certain that in the future, their children and grandchildren would not have to go to war. Those are the memories that come to me on Remembrance Day.
Why is pausing each year to mark the contributions of our veterans important?
In our everyday, busy world, it is so easy to forget the sacrifices that were made so that we can live in a country that is free, safe and secure. Remembrance Day provides us that opportunity.
What does Remembrance Day mean to you personally?
In my broadcasting career which stretched over 36 years I met many veterans of the First and Second World Wars, the battles in Korea and more recently soldiers and police returning from conflicts in Europe and Africa. Their stories never focus on battles won or lost. They remember the men and women they served with and why there were in a foreign land in the first place. They talk about the people they fought with, how you could have breakfast with a buddy and by lunch he was gone either wounded or dead. What I admire most about these warriors is their selflessness and dedication to their comrades and country.
What is your personal most significant memory associated with Remembrance Day?
I have very fond memories of interviews with Joe Yurkowski, Wally Austman and Al Morley. What struck me was their matter of fact descriptions of hair raising events that would leave most of us face down in a ditch trying to dig our way to China. Yurkowski spoke of crossing a street for breakfast with German mortar teams trying to drop a shell on the dining hall. Joe cracked "those Jerry's couldn't hit the broad side of a barn". Al Morley was a paratrooper who was dropped in the dead of night behind enemy lines on D Day. A thoughtful quiet man who has seen more of wars depredations than anyone should have to. Wally Austman revealed how Korean veterans had long fought for the respect deserved in a conflict that nobody wanted to remember. An airman I interviewed talked about the awe he felt as he soared over the armada of ships making their way to the beaches of France. I will never forget their stories, how they tell them and the obvious pride and respect they have for our country and our flag. Truer Canadians would be hard to find.
Why is pausing each year to mark the contributions of our veterans important?
Remembrance Day has been set aside to honour men and women that put themselves in harms' way because we ask them to. They have chosen to serve, and our nation and citizens have an obligation to support and respect them. Whether they have braved the beaches of Normandy or helped build schools and hospitals in Afghanistan they represent the best that our nation stands for. Freedom, democracy and the right to live in peace. Taking a day to recognize their sacrifice is not too much to ask. They have given us so much, our identity as a nation and a place among the most respected countries. We must remember them.
What does Remembrance Day mean to you personally?
Remembrance Day to me is one of the most important days of the year. Everything we have, our rights and freedoms, are all because of those that fought and died for our country.
What is your personal most significant memory associated with Remembrance Day?
I will always remember veterans from WWI and WWII coming to our schools and telling stories about what the wars were like, friends they lost, and why they were fighting. Those stories were touching and in a lot of cases, painful to hear, but really gave us a good idea of what it was like and an appreciation of the sacrifice they made for our country.
Why is pausing each year to mark the contributions of our veterans important?
It is very important that we pause to both honour and thank those that sacrificed. If we turn on the news and see what is happening in different countries all of the world, we can easily see what freedoms we have because of what the Greatest Generation fought for. Freedoms that we take for granted, and Remembrance Day gives us that opportunity to reflect with and to teach our children.
What does Remembrance Day mean to you personally?
As I begin to look at the almost 60 years in my time here on this earth, the simple ways of Remembrance Day of the past pop out. There was a time it was not a holiday, but yet people would stop on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month and bow their heads and remember, pay their respects and then go on with their life. In Winnipeg where I grew up, sirens and bells would sound the start and the end of that period. It was not a holiday, but a time when children in school were taught why we remember, and men and women at work took time to show they remember I rather liked that.
What is your personal most significant memory associated with Remembrance Day?
It was when I was appointed Hon. Lt. Col. and I met the first young men and women returning from overseas from Afghanistan. They fought a much different style war than the so called great wars. BUT I was amazed at their youthful appearance and determination in the fact they had done their part in a much bigger picture. I also took note that those same young faces were probably on the young men and woman who returned home from earlier wars fought on our behalf.
Why is pausing each year to mark the contributions of our veterans important?
The pausing is important, not the pomp and ceremony, but the time each man woman and child takes to lower their head, close their eyes and give a prayer in their heart for those who have chosen a career path in our military that has protected our country in the past, and will continue to do so in the future. The other day in Yorkton at a local store I was asked by a young lady not from this country why we were all wearing the red flowers. I quickly explained about the poppy and we wear it to show respect. It brings to mind that some of these people have never had their country fight in a war, never seen their people come home injured, or not come home at all, probably because Canadians were fighting for them.
