Windsor falls silent for Remembrance Day

by Dan Gray
November 11, 2013

Over 1,000 people gathered Nov. 11 at the Cenotaph in Windsor to pay respect to those who have served for Canada.

Veterans from World War Two, Korea, Vietnam, peacekeepers and the War in Afghanistan gathered with children and adults of all ages at 11 a.m. for two minutes of silence. The Royal Canadian Legion provided a colour guard and the Canadian Historical Aircraft Association held a fly over during the gathering. Patrick Roberts has been coming for many years and took his eight-year-old daughter Morgan out of school to attend today’s ceremony.

“I had three uncles in the war, that’s why I came,” said Roberts. “She has been coming for the last five years.”

According to the Canadian National War Museum, Remembrance Day has been celebrated in Canada since 1921. Originally called Armistice Day, the federal government changed the name to Remembrance Day in 1931 and gave it a set date of Nov. 11. Even though 95 years have passed since the end of World War One, thousands still gather each year across the country.

Tecumseh MP Joe Comartin spoke on behalf of the Government of Canada at the Nov. 11 event. He reminded everyone of the times Canada has gone to battle and the message carried by our soldiers every time.

“Each one of those occasions, what they said to the world, on our behalf, on behalf of all of us, is that Canada stands for a set of values and we are prepared to fight to protect those values. It’s democracy, it’s freedom, it’s equality for all…,” said Comartin. “On behalf of Brian Masse and myself and all our constituents, we say thank you and we will remember you.”

The ceremony continued with addresses to the crowd from MPPs Percy Hatfield and Teresa Piruzza as well as Mayor Eddie Francis. The final address of the day was made by Theresa Charbonneau, the mother of Cpl. Andrew Grenon who was killed in Afghanistan in 2008.

Holding back tears, she deflected the comments that she was the guest of honor and spoke about who she believed deserved that title.

“The guests of honour are seated in front of you, they are the men and women in uniforms…” said Charbonneau. “Thank you to them, the guests of honour, the guests of honour here, everybody look beside you, look around you, these are the guests of honour.”

The lesson of the day was shared with the crowd by Vietnam War veteran Mike Hillman, when he spoke about the men and women who sacrificed their lives for freedom in the United States and Canada.
“Let us never forget, freedom was not free,”said Hillman.