Windsor remembers

By Dan Gray
Veterans and citizens came out by the hundreds to take part in a solemn Remembrance Day service at the Windsor Cenotaph.

The City of Windsor held their annual Remembrance Day ceremony at 11 a.m on Nov. 11. It started with a Howitzer firing to mark the beginning of two minutes of silence. There was a noticeable spike in attendance upon the previous year and a highly visible police force. The police were on rooftops, among the crowd and shut down much of the downtown core during the ceremony. A poll conducted by AM800 listeners says 93 per cent of their listeners believe events in Ottawa and Quebec had something to do with the increased turnout across the area.

Ministers of parliament and ministers of provincial parliament joined veterans and citizens in the act of remembrance, wreath laying and the playing of last post. This year’s event also held the opportunity for those gathered to re-affirm their citizenship to Canada.
It was reported at the service that three world ward 2 veterans had died in the past week. Their diminishing number was noticeable from the previous year’s event. Although not a World War veteran,
Ray Silvius served during the Korean War. He sat proudly in the front row in his uniform during the event. There were 516 Canadian soldiers killed in Korea including some from Windsor and Essex County. He said it is important that we don’t forget those sacrifices.

“I think that we should remember what everybody died for, so this country could stay free,” said Silvius. “I believe that emphatically.”

Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis was attending his final Remembrance Day as mayor. He said although this is one of his last ceremonies as mayor every Remembrance Day is more than a ceremony to him. According to Francis he views this as an opportunity to work closer in hand with the veterans after he’s done in office. He doesn’t view attending as something he does as mayor but as a good citizen. Although he’ll be in a different position he believes it is important to continue to help the veterans and remember them.

“I think it’s important for all of us to personally recognize the sacrifices of vets the sacrifice of the men and women that are in service and to recognize what we do for all of us so that we are able to enjoy the freedoms that we are enjoying,” said Francis. “I’ve heard many, many stories told by so many vets as to what they faced and what they had to deal with and what they had to deal with when they came back home and are still dealing with. For me and for this community we owe them a tremendous amount of gratitude and thanks.”
The mayor’s thoughts were echoed by veterans including Ken Knighton, a former army mechanic who spent time as a peacekeeper in Israel.

“It’s important for people to understand that the memory of these people cannot go away.”