‘The onus is on us’ to remember veterans By: Matt Goerzen Posted: 11:47 PM CST Friday, Nov. 11, 2022 Last Modified: 11:35 AM CST Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/11/2022 (1305 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As the number of people who served Canada during the Second World War and the Korean War dwindles, Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett says it’s up to the rest of us to remember their service, and remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to keep our country free.

“The Great Wars are getting a long [ways away],” Fawcett told the Sun Friday morning, shortly before delivering the keynote address for Brandon’s Remembrance Day ceremony at the Keystone Centre. “So we have to do more of a conscious effort to make sure that between the schools and our leaders … that we remember what we were in this, particularly the Great Wars.

“I don’t believe there are any World War II veterans here today. That time is passed. The onus is on us.”

Statistics from Veterans Affairs Canada show that as of March 2021, there were only 20,300 remaining veterans from the Second World War, and 5,200 Korean War veterans. More than a year later, that number has undoubtedly decreased as our remaining veteran population continues to age.

Fawcett, who was elected to office during the recent municipal election, said there is a danger in forgetting our past, and the sacrifices of those who came before. That election had an incredibly low voter turnout — less than 20 per cent — and Fawcett said we have to make a more conscious effort to remember why the First and Second World Wars were fought in the first place.

“One of the things we fought for was democracy, and yet we don’t vote anymore,” Fawcett said. “That was one of the reasons we fought. We have military that serves the people, not the governments. And there’s a significant difference between those things around the world. We just need to be conscious of what we have.

“I do worry about things that are happening around the world as we get further away from families knowing friends and family members who have died in war.”

Hundreds of residents of Brandon and western Manitoba joined military veterans and currently enlisted soldiers from the 26th Field Regiment and CFB Shilo’s 1st Regiment Canadian Horse Artillery and the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, to mark Remembrance Day.

The gathered crowd gave applause to members of the 1RCHA as they marched into the arena, following the groups of navy and army cadets who joined the ceremony for the march of the Colour Guard.

One member of the crowd who was visiting from Toronto is Lt.-Col Bob Martinell, a veteran with the Royal Canadian Engineers. Martinell, along with his wife Cathy, came to see his son, who now serves as a soldier with 1RCHA in CFB Shilo, and is slated to be deployed to Latvia shortly.

He believes Remembrance Day continues to evolve with the times, as people seek more modern reasons to recall the sacrifices of men and women in uniform.

“People will seek other reasons for remembrance, notably the first responders, who are preeminent in our minds,” Martinell said. “The health practitioners, certainly we’ll remember them. And, of course, we are reminded and have to remember those who served and gave the supreme sacrifice, and for those who are currently serving.

“But when you consider the number of people who are in various uniforms, serving our country, defending what we have today, I can see it only continuing exactly the way it is at the moment, for any number of reasons, but always to remember those who are serving our country.”

The ongoing Russian insurgency in Ukraine can also lend itself as a modern reminder to Canadians of the toll war can take on a nation, and that human society has not yet evolved beyond the need for conflict.

“It certainly brings, shall we say, the less desirable things in life that humans do — it shows very clearly that war is not behind us,” Martinell said. “It’s in our future and we have to be able to control and try and progress ourselves so that we don’t have to deal with these types of things.”

Beyond watching it online and on television from the safety of our homes, we can also learn about those kinds of conflicts directly from the people who have come to Canada to escape war. Many refugees and immigrants to Canada have escaped conflicts in their own countries, including Ukraine. Their stories and experiences can help us better understand the ongoing need for remembrance.

“We need to talk with people who have come,” Fawcett said. “I do have an opportunity to work with refugees and immigrants who come from countries that see war. We haven’t really seen war on our soil, so we have to get that second-hand information from people who have come from there. We do live in a different time.”

» mgoerzen@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @MattGoerzen