BURSTPeople lined Veterans Peace Park in Smithers for this year’s Remembrance Day ceremony on Nov. 11 to honour fallen war veterans and emergency personnel.
The ceremony began at the Legion, where parade participants marched to the cenotaph for the ceremony, then back to the Legion for an optional celebratory toast.
At 11 a.m. attendees bowed their heads for two minutes of silence. Many could be observed wearing the symbolic poppy in honour of those who sacrificed their lives for Canada.
Padre Douglas Campbell reflected on the history of Remembrance Day during the ceremony.
“On the 11th Hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, World War One, hostility ceased, deafening. Sounds of conflict were replaced by a very eerie silence. It was in those moments between the sounds of dying and the cries of relief that we were faced with all we had done.
“All we had lost and all we had sacrificed, and in that silence, we were confronted with the truth so obvious and so terrifying that we swore we would never take up arms again. This was the birthplace of Remembrance Day, and we vowed never to forget.”
Campbell thanked everyone for coming together in community at this hour in silence once more to remember the fallen and those who served in uniform, and to reflect on the anguish of families who endured forced separation and the greater grief of those separations made permanent.
“I had a dream some months ago, and share with you today that vision of 100,000 candles, all lit, each one representing a Canadian soldier who died in World War One and World War Two. To put that loss into perspective, imagine, if you will, individuals or families pausing today, holding a lit candle and reflecting for a few moments in the sacrifice of the soldier who died in conflict.
“Extinguish the candle and feel the loss, relight the candle in gratitude, recognition and confidence that the soul of our country is always aflame after that reverent moment, consider that if every single citizen in the town of Smithers so honoured the 100,000 who gave their lives, every man, woman and child would need to light 19 candles so not one would be forgotten.”
“The enormity of it all compels us to remember, if we do so with intention, the supreme sacrifice of those 100,000 fallen Canadians can be a profound, present-tense moment. They died for us, for their houses, their families, their friends, for a wealth of values and traditions they cherished as part of a future in which they believed they died for Canada. The meaning of their sacrifice rests with our collective national conscience, in short, our future and how we live.”
He ended his message with the Lord’s Prayer.
Local organizations and family members of fallen soldiers laid down commemorative wreaths dressed with poppies and a purple ribbon. These included RCMP, Smithers Firefighters, Emergency Support Services, and B.C. Paramedics and Ambulance Service among many others.