We Remember

It was Remembrance Day on Tuesday, and there was a Remembrance Day ceremony at the National War Memorial just a 5min walk from my apartment. I'd wanted to go down and observe the ceremony, but the weather was quite bad and I figured it would be too crowded for me to be able to see much, so I opted to stay in. It was a good choice, because I got closeups of what was happening. It was such a powerful and moving ceremony that I got chills down my spine just sitting at home.

From 10am, people started gathering at the memorial, which is flanked by roads on all sides. The news showed Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his family arriving, then Governor-General Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean and her family. At 10.57am, "O Canada" was sung and silence fell. A lone trumpet played The Last Post, ending just in time for the clock tower to chime mournfully at 11am. The memorial was surrounded by a sea of veterans in black, green and grey, the gravity broken only by spots of bright red from the velvet poppies each one wore. Stiff peak caps on and heads bowed, their extremely wrinkled faces were etched with memories of victory as well as loss.

I peered to see if I could catch the flypast. Didn't manage to, but I heard them loud and clear! There was also a 21-gun salute, and bagpipes sang a song of valour, sacrifice and honour. For the first time, there was also a torch-passing ritual. The media managed to film Canada's last surviving WWI veteran (he's 108 years old!) with the torch, which was passed by a runner to a WWII veteran, then Korean War, then Peacekeeping, then a young Afghan War sergeant. It was a significant moment also because this year marks the 90th anniversary of the end of WWI.

The formal ceremony ended with many people going forward to lay wreaths at the foot of the memorial, and a children's choir decked in red whispered bell-like strains of tunes of old. It seems that this year's ceremony also had an unprecedented high attendance by young people. Many who were interviewed said they just felt it was important to let the veterans and their families know that they have not been forgotten. From the visible formalities to the unspoken emotions, everyone and everything that morning said one thing - we remember.