Glowing candles were placed by young and old, row upon row at the GodB次元官网网址檚 Acre veterans cemetery in Esquimalt, Thursday (May 25) evening.
At the candlelight tribute, the flames burned from around 6:45 p.m until midnight.
The community turnout for the event grew from last year, especially from youth.
B次元官网网址淭o see cadet organizations, navy league, scouts in particular here, I think is wonderful,B次元官网网址� said Capt. Jeffery Hutchinson, base commander for Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt and guest speaker at the ceremony. B次元官网网址滷irst, Second World War, and the Korean War, you can see that some of those veterans are passing. Their ability to tell stories, personally their time is running out. So, the more opportunity we have to help teach the junior members of our community to remember the sacrifices that were made, we want to take those chances.B次元官网网址�
The tradition first started in 1995 in the Netherlands before it moved to Canada. It was a part of the 50th anniversary of the countryB次元官网网址檚 liberation by Canadian forces during the Second World War. Ceremony attendees were greeted with a colour party followed by the sounds of bag pipes from the Canadian Scottish Regimental Association Pipe Band.
With the tributeB次元官网网址檚 interactive nature, brief length and enticing sweet treats afterwards, Hutchinson added that B次元官网网址渋t helps particularly youth to remember the sacrifice made to allow them to have the freedoms they have today in Canada.B次元官网网址�
Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins also had a great emphasis of youth involvement.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 so important to bring young and old together, so those memories carry on and that we donB次元官网网址檛 forget.B次元官网网址�
Retired Chief Petty Officer from the Royal Canadian Navy Barry FreemanB次元官网网址檚 parents are buried in the cemetery because his father was a veteran in the First World War. He explained that his mother had the opportunity to be buried next to her husband because the veterans cemetery let B次元官网网址渢he wives of fallen soldiers be placed in the cemetery beside them as long as their marker wasnB次元官网网址檛 superior in some way to the solders.B次元官网网址�
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