Hundreds of residents of all ages attended Remembrance Day ceremonies in Didsbury, Carstairs and Cremona, paying solemn tribute to the fallen, and commending past and current serving Canadian Armed Forces members.
In Didsbury, the Remembrance Day ceremony was a somber affair with several hundred people nearly filling the Zion Evangelical Missionary Church.
The event was hosted by Didsbury's 3025 Service Battalion RCAC (Army Cadets) and was MCed by Lt. Todd MacDonald.
“The turnout was great,” said MacDonald. “We had the RCMP there; four in red serges, that was incredible. The fire department all came out in full force. We had a great turnout from the cadets and the scouts and guides and brownies. I thought it was fabulous.”
The event featured several performances from the Didsbury Valley Voices, an invocation prayer from Rev. Mike Morgan, a reading of In Flanders Fields by Bill Jepps, who also read the honour roll saluting those from the area who gave their lives for their country.
“It seems like everyone has someone they know (that fought),” said MacDonald. “There are lots of connections to people who have been in the service.
And with Afghanistan now we're starting to see a whole new type of veteran come through the door.”
Performing the Last Post before the moment of silence was bugler Teena Tricks-Wilks. That was followed by piper Daniel Anderson performing Lament. Trick-Wilks then played Reveille on the bugle.
Following a special song from the Valley Voices, about a dozen groups placed wreaths in honour of the fallen.
MacDonald praised all the performers and speakers. “Pastor Mike did a great job. The Didsbury Voices were amazing. The other nice thing was having a piper and a bugler this year.”
All three schools in Didsbury had Remembrance Day services earlier in the week. “The schools have really jumped on board as well by having the services and keeping the awareness there,” said MacDonald. “That's another big key; keeping it in people's minds.”
During the Carstairs Remembrance Day ceremony in the Community Centre, Pastor Harry Hoehne, with Carstairs Church of God, gave the call to worship and invocation.
“This morning we remember the more than 2.3 million Canadians who have served throughout our nation's history and the more than 118,000 who made the ultimate sacrifice for duty, for honour, for country,” Hoehne.
“They are the ones that saw that they were needed and they said, ‘Here I am, send me.' Indeed, all gave some and some gave all.”
Carstairs Legion president Norma Disney recited the names of the 28 Carstairs-area men who died in the First, Second and Korean Wars.
“Never forget we will remember them,” said Disney.
In the keynote Remembrance Day address, Edward Tucker spoke about Canada's “new age veterans” who served in recent military missions such as Afghanistan and Bosnia.
“The new age veterans need our help and support just as veterans did in the Great War,” said Tucker. “We've lost too many at home to ignore them and the help that they need.
“There are those still among us who need our help. We have to support our troops past and present for the battles they face overseas and the battles they face at home.”
In the benediction, Pastor Don Shortt, with West Zion Mennonite Church, said, in part, “Because of their (veterans') sacrifice, we can raise our families in this wonderful country we know as Canada.”
Those in attendance at the Cremona Remembrance Day ceremony included 95-year-old Alice Airriess.
She served three years in the Canadian Women's Army Corp (CWAC) from 1942 to 1945.
Airriess had four brothers – Frank, Phil, Glen and John – serving in the Canadian Army during the war. When Frank was captured at Hong Kong in December 1941, Alice made the decision to join up.
“I thought that any little thing that could help to bring the war to a close I would be happy to do it,” Airriess told the Gazette.
The CWAC was a non-combatant branch of the Canadian Armed Forces, with members serving in roles such as mechanics, cooks, and secretaries such as Airriess.
During her service in Europe in 1944 and 1945, Airriess was wounded in the face by flying glass during a rocket explosion in Antwerp, Belgium on Dec. 23, 1944.
Airriess said it is right and fitting that the thousands of women who served in the Canadian Forces during the Second World War are recognized for their efforts.
