Even on the chilly, brisk November morning, over a thousand Smithereens visited Veteran’s Peace Park to remember those who have fallen.
Among them were veterans, RCMP officers, cadets, and members of all levels of government, all of whom presented commemorative wreaths around the cenotaph.
Veteran and Legion Padre Doug Campbell says the turnout was “amazing,” especially the amount of young people in the crowd.
“What people do in uniform matters and we take risks. I think people are really getting that,” he says, “The veterans always got it, but I think even younger people now are getting that in a much more profound way.”
Campbell knows young people are so far removed from the 20th-century wars that they may never fully understand the sacrifices made by soldiers and their families, but believes the next generation can still remember them by getting involved in the community.
“Whatever issue you may want to pick: the homeless, the poor, people who have drug issues and need rehab, we can all pick that stuff up and young people I think can play a role. I think that’s a way of honouring what our soldiers, who fell, fought for,” he adds.
Campbell was in what is now the 11th Field Artillery Regiment in Guelph, Ontario, the same one that “In Flanders Field,” author Dr. John McCrae was a part of in the first World War.
This year marks the poem’s 100th anniversary.
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