Jami Carter (née Suchan) was raised in Estevan, but as she grew up she chose a military career, which took her far away from home.
Now she resides in Ottawa, where the former Estevan resident has been posted to the minister of Veterans Affairs as his military advisor. One of the roles he does is commemoration, so quite often this job gets Major Carter out of the government office and back to the places where Canadians were contributing to the march of history.
In June the job took her to Italy and France, where she participated in Canada Remembers ceremonies. The Mercury talked to Carter about her experience with the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
“There were two parts to the trip that I participated in because we added in one portion for Italy, which was the lead-up. There was a push in Italy leading up to D-Day and the campaign down there, so we went to Italy for three days and did some commemorative activities there before moving up to France to the Normandy region to do the activities with the 75th,” explained Carter.
Most commemorative events are military, so there is a protocol that has to be followed. So when participating in them, Carter advises the minister of Veterans Affairs and briefs him on the events and sequences.
In France, the Canadian official delegation was joined by the veterans who participated in the campaign on Juno Beach.
Interaction with people who were actually fighting there 75 years ago made Carter’s experience unforgettable.
“Just being able to spend time with those veterans that were there for D-Day, and knowing that this is going to be likely the last time when they will ever set their foot on Juno Beach it’s very touching, it’s very significant.”
Some of the veterans attending the ceremonies this year came to France for the first time since their fight in 1944. And even though being on duty Carter didn’t have a lot of time, she found a few gaps in the busy schedule to sit down with some of them and talk about their experience.
“It all depended on a veteran… For some of them, it was hard. Recollecting all that happened on that day was very difficult,” recalled Carter.
She said that the time with D-Day veterans was the main highlight of that work experience.
“The ones who were able to share their stories about that day would be the best part of the whole event. It’s such a personal story to share with somebody, especially somebody they don’t know. It’s quite an honour,” said Carter.
She also noted that prior to going to a cemetery or Juno Beach many veterans had a hard time recollecting the details, like names of their comrades or some facts about the days of the battles, but that changed when they came to historic sites.
“When on the beach, they would have a flood of memories, a lot of what they couldn’t recollect 20 minutes before came back to them.”
Veterans attending the ceremony are in their 90s, and Carter noticed that a lot of them were reinvigorated when visiting memorable places.
"The events were very long for the most part, but the pride that they had...” said Carter recalling how some veterans who were in wheelchairs would stand up and salute when the national anthem was played.
“It was amazing and very touching.”
Carter has been in her current position for a year. She also participated in the commemoratives events for the First World War in November 2018. At the centenary of the end of Great War Carter was assisting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during ceremonies in Belgium. She also took part in different ceremonies in Canada, which were related to military operations and wars.
“There is a day-to-day advisor position that I have, but the commemorative events are really important because of the cost that was involved,” said Carter.
She said the opportunity to attend the battle sites along with participants of those battles is priceless.
With the military, there is camaraderie and trust between fellow soldiers. Often a lot of the veterans are in long-term care homes, where they may feel lonely from time to time surrounded by people who don’t fully understand what they’ve been through. But when they are back to their battlefields, it's very different.
“It’s amazing to see when they get together ... they start building friendships very quickly,” said Carter noting the change of the group dynamic between the beginning and the end of the week she witnessed in France.
“When they first landed, some of them were feeling quite ill and ran down, and by the end of the week … they were singing old army songs together and some of them were up till midnight sharing stories and having a great time. There is a whole transformation that happened from them being in that community of veterans and being able to share their stories with people who were also there and did similar things.”
All that turned Carter’s experience with commemorative ceremonies in France into something much bigger than just a job or duty.
