REGINA - Tribute was paid at the Saskatchewan Legislature on Wednesday for those who served in military duty for the country,
It was the annual Service of Remembrance for the Public Service. This was the annual tribute to those in the public service who served for Saskatchewan and Canada in military duty. According to the province’s news release, the memorial service paid tribute to “those who have served and those who gave their lives in times of war.“
The event took place in the rotunda of the Legislature, attended by dignitaries including Lieutenant Governor Russ Mirasty, Premier Scott Moe, and Opposition Leader Carla Beck. Also there were military veterans, as well as current members of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Following the service indoors, people made their way outdoors to the west of the Legislature building, to the Saskatchewan War Memorial where Premier Moe laid a wreath in remembrance.
Among those at the service was retired Army Major Brad Hrycyna, who is the president of the Royal United Services Institute of Regina.
“It's always important to me this week, remembering our veterans,” Hrycyna said. “Over 118,000 of them perished in the service of Canada throughout our wars and conflicts.”
He noted many more who did come home either suffered physical or psychological wounds. “And they came back and helped build this country. There's a reason that our veterans of the Second World War were known as the greatest generation for what they did to create Canada as it is now.”
He noted his great uncle, John Miller, a farmer from Arborfield, is one of those whose name is on the Saskatchewan War Memorial. Miller was killed in the First World War on July 19, 1918.
“He was a young man who went to war. As a farmer, basically he would have been exempt from going, but he chose to do that,” Hrycyna said. “He served, and he made that an ultimate sacrifice.”
He said he was glad to see the public service hold their ceremony each year at the Legislature.
“It's a moving one here in the legislature. And, of course, the Memorial (on November) 11th is the main service that I hope that as many people come out as possible to pay their respects for our veterans.”
One challenge Hrycyna identified is that the living history of those past conflicts - the veterans from the two world wars and Korean War - is disappearing.
“One of the issues we have now is that virtually all of our Second World War veterans are gone. The Korean War veterans, similarly,” Hrycyna said. “All the First World War veterans are gone for some time. And those are the folks that would come out to the school and would speak about remembrance.
“And they just aren't there anymore. So, it's up to the new generation of veterans and other people to keep that memory alive and ensure that we do mark this occasion with the respect it's due.”
Cliff Walker, chairman of the Saskatchewan War Memorial Committee and a member of the Saskatchewan First Nations Veterans Association, spoke of the importance of remembering those who served.
“I served for 35 years in the Army, and very few soldiers ever joined up for fame and glory, but what they were hoping was that they would not be forgotten,” Walker said. “So every Nov. 11th, we gather together and we remember, and that's why we say we will remember them. I think it's important to do that.”
Walker himself joined the Canadian Forces in 1962.
“It was the Cuban Missile Crisis. We thought it was going to be the beginning of World War III.”
His dad, a World War II veteran, was a recruiting officer in the Army. “He said: ‘son, I think it's time for you to do your part.’.. And so in 1962, in June of 1962, he signed all the necessary papers saying that I was 18 years old, and I became a combat engineer. And the day before I joined the Army, I blew 15 candles out on my birthday cake. So I was a pretty young soldier.”
He remembers there was “just such an influx. There was four lines of young men, and they were virtually all young men, going into the armory in Regina. And the line went all the way down Elphinstone Street to Dewdney, and the four lines went all the way down to Athol Street.”
“I don't think that you'd see that today, but, you know, we were told that we were the good guys, and the other guys were doing something wrong, and it looked like war was going to break out, and we should be ready. When the Russians turned around and went home with their ships, almost an equal number of people left the military. And I stayed. I stayed for 35 years.”
He noted the importance of ensuring that the names of those who served were included on the War Memorial.
“We recorded the names of every single individual from city, town, First Nations, countryside, that we could find from 1900 on who died in uniform. And there's 11,000 names engraved in bronze behind me, and their names will live forevermore.
Walker said what they wanted people to think about when seeing the War Memorial was to not “forget what people did for them.”
“And we're in a very dangerous time right now. I was with some senior military people just a week or two ago, and they said at international conferences, now it feels like 1913 all over again. It feels like 1938 all over again. You know, the year before the First World War and the year before the Second World War. And maybe if enough people around the world visit memorials like this, they'll come to the conclusion that let's avoid a Third World War.”
One more thing that set apart this year’s ceremony was that it coincided with a recent provincial election and next week’s municipal vote. Walker found that fact significant.
“It really is, and giving people the right to vote the way they want to vote without being afraid. And to be able to speak up without being afraid. And I think it's a very important part of our way of life that people have an opportunity to do that. And I think that's worth defending because there's certainly a lot of places in the world where the average individual has no say in the government that looks after him. And we do, and I think I'm very thankful for that.”
