Remembrance Day service always emotional reminder

The crowd gathered around the Clock Tower Cenotaph on Queen Street Monday might well have been the largest yet, at least in recent memory.

The sun was shining throughout most most of the Remembrance Day service organized by The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 124, members of whom noted the good attendance at the ceremony, which had all the traditional components of a day to acknowledge those who lost their lives in previous wars as they fought for peace, and those who continue to serve their country.

The crowd heard from Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa, who talked about the significance of Remembrance Day for all Canadians who would be reflecting on “the immense sacrifices made by our fellow citizens, both past and present, to secure the freedoms we hold so dear,” but also remembered the impact their sacrifices have had on Niagara-on-the-Lake, with its “unique and powerful connections to Canada’s military history.”

He reminded spectators that when Canada entered the First World War, sending 619,000 troops to fight in Europe, Camp Niagara and the Commons were transferred into training grounds, and also noted a group of expatriate Polish and Polish American soldiers who came to town for their training. “Many of our residents recall stories of the early morning bugle calls, Sunday church parades and the sight of soldiers marching to the steamship dock or the King Street train station,” he said, and which are celebrated and remembered with the help of the NOTL Museum and the town’s library.

Zalepa told a particularly moving story of a local man, Lt. William J. Wright, whose name would be read out later in the service as one of the soldiers who did not return home.

He was a former principal of Niagara High School, now the museum building, who felt “a profound sense of duty to enlist,” said Zalepa. “His men spoke highly of his bravery, and he never asked them to do something he would not do himself. Tragically, he made the ultimate sacrifice on August 18, 1917, during the attack at Hill 70 in France. He left behind his wife Edith and their three children.”

In letters held at the museum, Zalepa said, “Edith’s words convey the unimaginable grief she experienced.”

She wrote of her deepening sorrow as his comrades came home, knowing he would never return. “Stories like these remind us of the human cost of war and the heartbreak felt by so many families across Canada. This continues today, with families of current Canadian Forces members.”

Zalepa quoted Theodore Roosevelt, who said those who go to war “have been driven by a sense of duty to do the best there was in them, in a task for which they have no natural desire. Others eagerly welcome the chance to sweep straight as a falcon at a quarry, which may be death, and these may come back with broken wings, or they may never come back. But all alike have done their duty, and more than their duty, and their souls shall stand forever in the glory of he morning.”

“We owe a dept of gratitude to these have souls,” said Zalepa, “a debt that can never be repaid.”

On this day of remembrance, he said, “I encourage everyone to pause and reflect on the sacrifices made by our servicemen and women and their families. Let us remember the values of peace, freedom and sacrifice they fought to protect, and let us continue to honour their legacy. We will remember them.”

Rev. Sheldon Kofsky offered a call to prayer, Rev, Judy Kofsky a Bible reading, and In Flanders Field was read.

Regional Coun. Andrea Kaiser read the list of names of those from who paid the ultimate sacrifice, always a moving and emotional reminder of the many local families who lost loved ones, before wreaths were laid for them at the cenotaph.

And in closing, before the parade of service people exited, the Act of Remembrance was read by Legion member and service organizer Al Howse, a reminder of why the memorial is held: “They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; age shall not weary them nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.”