Regina remembered fallen and wounded soldiers in international conflict during at least two Remembrance Day ceremonies yesterday.
The Royal Canadian Legion held their annual event at the Cenotaph in Victoria Park, while another event was held at the War Memorial on the Saskatchewan Legislative grounds.
Parade Marshal for the Regina Royal Canadian Legion Regina Branch Henry Sobchyshyn says it’s important to remind people of the sacrifices made.
“If we had a World War going and your son is in the military, of course you’re highly interested and you’re doing what you can, but when it’s some little fight way off in some other country, it’s harder to know it when we’re so comfortable in this country.”
Sobchyshyn says Canada is a free country thanks to the work of the country’s veterans.
“We enjoy all these rights and freedoms, and they were bought, they were paid for,” Sobchyshyn said. “We need to remember that, because I’ve served in different countries, not one of them is anywhere near the standard that we have here.”
Sobchyshyn says there’s so much we take for granted, so it’s good to reflect at least once a year.
“When you have to struggle to survive, how do you call that a beautiful country like we have here?” Sobchyshyn said. “We enjoy these freedoms, we live here, we take it for granted, so once a year we should really jog ourselves and say ‘hey, let’s pay the piper,’ it’s time we tried to at least pay tribute to somebody that earned this for us.”
This Remembrance Day marked the 100th anniversary of the poppy.
