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Posted by: Brianne_Ward on 11/19/2008 12:09 PM
Updated by: furlong on 11/19/2008 12:09 PM
Expires: 01/01/2013 12:00 AM

North Bay remembers as thousands fill Memorial Gardens

More than 3,000 people packed into Memorial Gardens to commemorate Remembrance Day.

By Brianne Ward
theclaw.ca

Across the country, silence blanketed cities, towns and villages Nov. 11 in memory of all the Canadian soldiers who fought, died, or otherwise served this country in conflicts around the world.

In this city, more than 3,000 people gathered in the Memorial Gardens as volley fire from the Algonquin Regiment signalled the observance of two minutes of silence. Civilians packed into the stands of the Memorial Gardens and military personnel lined up in rows along the boarded-over ice rink alike bowed their heads and closed their eyes in honor of the brave men and women sent overseas to fight for their country, never to return to their families or friends. Some, like 87-year-old World War II and Korean War veteran Don Pennell, used the silence as a time to reflect on the people with whom they shared those life-changing experiences.

“I was remembering buddies that I knew,” Pennell said. “Of course I was thinking of my brothers, too. It’s a time when you think back, you contemplate, and you remember the people you used to be with.”

Pennell served with the Canadian military for more than 40 years and was stationed all over the world.

Following the traditional two-minute silence, a hymn was sung by Debbie Allen, Padre of Branch 23 of the Royal Canadian Legion. Four poems followed, include one titled ‘The Difference’, read by 12-year-old Kaitlyn Brennan-Hawks and the traditional war poem In Flander’s Fields.

For veterans such as Pennell, Remembrance Day can be heart-wrenching.

“I have to remember all the buddies that I soldiered with in the Second World War and also the Korean veterans,” Pennell explained. “I also had a younger brother I lost in the Second World War near the end and I also lost a brother in peacekeeping. So, to me, it’s rather emotional.”

Many at the ceremony, like Pennell, lost family and friends. More than 50 wreaths were laid at the base of a white cross, decorated only with the words ‘Lest We Forget’ along the cross-beam, in the centre of the rink. In turns, representatives from organizations and families walked down an aisle that ran between rows of decorated veterans, current military personnel wearing standard green fatigues, and blue-clad cadets, accompanied by veterans and serving military adorned in dress uniforms, to add their tribute to Tuesday’s ceremony.

Some onlookers watching the parade of veterans, military, police, and fire personnel - accompanied by bagpipes - exit the building felt that Remembrance Day and the ceremony held was about more than just honouring the past.

Remembrance Day should be about educating younger generations about the acts of their ancestors, and the significance of those acts, Pennell said.

SENSE OF HISTORY

“The biggest part is getting the people out - especially children, young people. Let them know why we’re here, why they have the freedom that they have today and that’s the biggest part,” Pennell said.

Even with the emotional baggage that accompanies Remembrance Day, it still has the power to bring friends together.

“At the same time, you get together and get to talk to some of your buddies,” Pennell said while sitting at the North Bay Legion with a beer on the table and his fellow veterans and friends around him.

On a day dedicated to war, it is often hard to remember that not everything that happened on the front lines was blood, chaos, and agony. To help him cope with the emotions dredged up on such a sombre day, Pennell remembers the good times from his days in the war.

“We don’t really talk about what terrible things really went on. We talk about the good things, the funny things that happened,” Pennell said. “You try to wipe out the bad memories of people, you know, when they got killed.

“I remember we were getting ready for the invasion of Sicily; of course, we didn’t know where we were going. It was our last exercise and we were in an LSP, landing craft personnel, and the sailors, they handle this. So when they hit bottom they drop that door, you know, and they run out. They hit a sandbar and dropped this thing, we run out and there we are, water about two feet over our head,” Pennell recalled, chuckling.

With the veterans like Pennell slowly succumbing to the passage of time, members of the Legion in North Bay are worried about the future of Remembrance Day and the Legion.

“My view is if it wouldn’t be for Afghanistan right now, it would be less and less. People remember more when their relatives are overseas,” Pennell said. “After the First World War, when I went to school, we didn’t hear nothing about that, until we went to war ourselves. The kids after that don’t know too much.”

Pennell has his own ideas on what can be done to help keep alive the memory of where future generation’s freedom comes from.

“Talk to schools, the Remembrance Day service would have to carry on, maybe a tour now and then, have a class come and view this monument here,” Pennell said.

The number of veterans in North Bay’s Royal Canadian Legion Branch 23 has dwindled significantly over the past years.

“Maybe there’s 350 veterans left. That’s all. We used to have 1,500 or more in the old building, but time passes by,” Pennell said sadly.

Pennell worries that the veterans from more recent wars, such as the current conflict in Afghanistan, won’t want to join the Legion.

“Most of the young people we get are the sons and daughters of the veterans. If the young people in the service today are not going to join, eventually they will peter out,” Pennell added.