Remembrance Day

 I am republishing the Post I made last year for Remembrance Day. Since Nov 11th is a day of Remembrance, here are my memories. 

Dad is part of the recognition of veterans in 
 Carievale, the town he loved so much

My Dad became a Veteran after he served for three years in World War II and then became a proud member of the Royal Canadian Legion.  These are my dad's own words from the family history book.  He wrote only one paragraph of his time involved in the war.  

The truck he spoke about in his write up

Imagine leaving a simple life on the farm and enlisting in the military to fight a war halfway around the world. Dad didn't speak about the war much until the last few years of his life.  The effects of his time as a soldier stayed with him his entire life. I will always remember his reaction whenever the jets from the Minot Air Force base would break the sound barrier.  His entire body would jump with no control, it looked like he thought he had just been shot at.  You could get the same reaction from him, if you came up behind him and surprised him.  He would assure people that they were lucky they didn't get clobbered.  PTSD therapy for the veterans was go home and not talk about what they had been through. That is basically what they did.  

Here we are the Dixons ready for the service. 

Every year on November 11th, the day would begin watching Dad, polish his medals and of course his shoes. He would explain what each medal meant and how he had received a medal from each country he had fought in.  Mom ironed all of the clothes for the day, which was a huge job, no dryers back then.  Kay and I enjoyed the day to wear dress up clothes.  Mom and Dad proudly wore their Legion blazers, grey pants and skirt, white shirts and ties.  Once dressed it was time for the medals to go on the blazer, war medals on the left, Legion medals on the right.  Dad automatically put his beret on perfect the first time.  He would then help mom; it never went as smoothly for her, and she rarely got it on to suit Dad.  I remember her head bobbing as he worked to get it just right. Off we went to the local service. For us it was not a holiday day, it was a day to remember.  I couldn't believe it when kids said they weren't going to the service.  I thought it was the law and what would they do on Remembrance Day at home.  

Dad was a devoted member of the local Legion, a dedicated group of men that worked tirelessly to make a better community.  Remembrance Day was planned by them, to honor those that lost their lives and those that served in World War I and II. The front seats of the church were saved for the Veterans.  One of my most vivid memory of the day was when the Legion presented itself at the service.  I waited for the loud command from Elmer Jackson which resulted in the stomp of feet to be at attention. Two more loud commands and they were on the move. The flag bearers were first, everyone's medals clanged in perfect unison. It just came rushing back to those men and one woman how to march with flawless effort. Every step in perfect unison. So it began, the annual day of remembering.  The ceremony was complete when people lined up for the laying of the wreaths.  I always loved watching the Legion march to the cenotaph to lie the wreaths.  That ceremony changed as years went on to laying of the wreaths at the church and they were then transferred to the cenotaph.  The trumpet of the Last Post and Reveille, the reading of the names off of the cenotaph still give me chills. It all ended with: 

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.

The Legion Auxiliary did their part as they were responsible for the lunch.  I hope every kid from Carievale remembers the cake donuts that they served.  I just couldn't wait for lunch because having donuts was a very different lunch than usual.  The Veterans enjoyed sharing the day with each other and then it was over for another year. Even as a child this was an emotional day for me, and it still is as I think back.  I can go right back to the Carievale Church and remember those special moments just like they were yesterday.

On the Carievale cenotaph there isn't a long list of names.  Very familiar family names and one family lost two young men, which was a huge sacrifice for that family.  My great uncle "Walker Jenkins" is one of the names listed on the Carievale cenotaph.  Walker died in WWI of the Spanish flu in Oct 1911.  Just a few days before the war was over.  

                      

Private Walker Jenkins    

                         

Walker was my Grandma Dixon's brother.  On November 11th, she would watch the service in Ottawa from the minute it started to air to the minute it ended.  She proudly wore a poppy and knew every detail about the Silver Cross Mother that was honored that year.  Her heart broke for that mother, as she could only imagine her pain.  No woman ever wants to be recognized as the Silver Cross Mother.  

My son Harley and his wife Kristen have served in the Air Force for nearly 25 years.  This is by far their story to tell not mine, but I do want to acknowledge them in this post.  They are veterans and have both been on tour during the war against Afghanistan.   

Laying poppies on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Ottawa

When Harley and Kristen lived in Ottawa, I went to three Remembrance Day services with them.  I have never in my life felt more Canadian.  Over 30,000 people were in attendance.  Just watching the thousands of soldiers and veterans on parade was something I will never forget.  The bands, the bagpipes, the many more divisions of the military I had no idea even existed, put me in a constant state of disbelief of what I was part of.  But it was the respect for the uniform that was the most meaningful.  The quick salute once O Canada started and held throughout the entire song.  The saluting of soldier to soldier according to rank, which was lost on me, but certainly not to those that were required to recognize a higher ranking. When total strangers would say "thanks for your service" it was overwhelming for me.  I was just in a constant state of emotional overload just embracing the grandeur of what the day meant.     

During my visit to Ottawa, we attended the War Museum.  I am not a museum person, but I have visited this museum three times.  It was at the museum that I met these three lovely ladies.  They are highly decorated veteran nurses.  Bright, full of life women that served their country.  I told them I was an instructor of nursing and they shared stories to tell the students. They said if the soldiers came in with maggots in their wounds, they knew they had a chance to survive.  The only medication they had to comfort the soldiers was morphine, which is still used today.  What those women must have seen and the many hands they would have held as the young men and women left this world. 

So proud to have served their country

There are so many heroes and so many losses when it comes to war.  Without a doubt every family has a story to tell.  The Simpson family had two brothers that went to war and became pilots.  One was killed on his first mission, and the other one had a long and decorated flying career.  He was honored on his 100th birthday with a flyby of the plane he flew in the war.  Their mother was a silver cross mother and the last thing she did before her death was place her son's medals and her own on her lap.  Her wish was to be buried with those medals, and she took care of it to make sure that happen. 

So ends my story of Remembrance Day.  Even though I don't attend services like I used to, when it was the law, I am like Grandma Dixon, I watch the Ottawa service.  I have to admit my heart as well hurts for the Silver Cross Mother.   

This poppy was made in England

No Military Tombstone is missed by the School Children at the Brandon Cemetery