Kingston honours veterans on Remembrance Day mindful of current conflicts – Kingston | 24CA News
Row by row they marched in the direction of the Remembrance Day ceremony on the waterfront in Kingston, Ont. And although they have been there to honour veterans of World Wars, the violence in Ukraine and Israel couldn’t be missed.
Residents younger and outdated gathered on the cenotaph to pause and replicate on the lives misplaced in wars passed by.
“Those that we remember and respect, they paid the ultimate price, and we were blessed to be able to come home safe,” Master Warrant Officer (retired) Kevin Luther mentioned.
“I think about my granddad who fought in the war, and he was there from start to finish, and he was one of the fortunate ones that came home,” Kingston resident Jason White mentioned.
“I always observe remembrance to remind me of my dad,” retired Leading Seaman Merrill Gooderham added.
For those that’ve served our nation, the annual day of remembrance is at all times a sombre one as reminiscences of these misplaced and time spent overseas come flooding again.
“It’s very emotional when I’m standing there and they’re doing The Last Post, moment of silence and things like that,” mentioned retired Able Seaman Charles D’Aoust.
“It’s hard to hold back the tears.”
But on this Remembrance Day, it’s arduous not to consider the current day and the conflicts presently happening within the Middle East and Europe.
Those on the ceremony want the violence abroad might come to an finish.
“In today’s climate, we need to do a lot of thinking. There’s a lot of stuff going on,” resident Jane Stolz mentioned.
“It’s getting kind of sickening that people can’t sit down and talk to settle these conflicts, they have to use violence … it just really sucks,” D’Aoust added.
“It’s disheartening that bullies keep winning, largely … if people could just learn to live together,” mentioned resident Bett Leverette.
As one other Remembrance Day comes and goes, the preventing happening within the Middle East and Ukraine has introduced a deeper sense of which means to those that fought and died to maintain our nation at peace.
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