Eganville – Appropriately, the weather Monday morning turned a bit nasty as sunshine was replaced with a slight breeze strong enough to knock over wreaths, skies displaying ominous rain clouds, and a few rain drops that fell near the end of the Remembrance Day service at the cenotaph at the Legion.

In keeping with many years of tradition, Legion members , although their numbers fewer, and soldiers from the Royal Canadian Dragoons marched from St. James Church to Branch 353 for the outdoor ceremony honouring Canada’s war dead and those who continue to serve in the armed forces.

The mournful sound of The Last Post, played by Stephan Grassmuck, broke the silence of morning as more than 150 gathered paid silent respect to the fallen. Just as the crowd was singing Abide With Me, two Griffon helicopters from Garrison Petawawa did a fly over of the ceremony and circled the village before moving on.

Legion Padres Father Michael Lund of St. James Church and Rev. Ralph Weigold of Grace Lutheran Church shared in the spiritual duties of the service with Fr. Lund thanking the many people who gave up their lives in pursuit of achieving peace and freedom.

“At the site of Vimy Ridge in France, there is a great monument there to the Canadian soldiers who won a victory in the first world war,” he said. “Nearby there is a cemetery and many of the soldiers who are buried there were able to be identified and so their tombstones mark their name, their rank, where they came from, but some of them were not able to be identified and rather than putting on the tombstone, ‘here lies ad unknown Canadian soldier,’ what they did there was they put ‘a soldier of the great war known unto God’.

“So even though they died away from their family, from the comforts of their home, even though they weren’t able to be identified when they were being buried, they were known unto God and we pray that as they left this world that God called them by name and welcomed them into His heavenly kingdom.”

Branch 353 President Dan Haddad emceed the service and Ladies Auxiliary President Margaret Felhaber introduced the wreath layers.

Mothers Bereaved by War – Marilyn Jackson; federal government, Mayor Jennifer Murphy; provincial government – Comrade Clifford Wall; County of Renfrew – Mayor Murphy; BV Township – Coun. John Epps; NAW Township – Mayor James Brose; Canadian Armed Forces – Major Travis Vanryswyk and MWO Sebastian Berube; Branch 353 Deceased veterans and comrades – Comrade Garth Jackson; Branch 353 Ladies Auxiliary deceased members – Comrade Bev Pickrell; memory of the families of deployed veterans – Roberta Dela-Picca; Algonquins of Pikwakanagan – Edna Ott; memory of Charles and Elsie Rosien – Jack Rosien; memory of Charles and Alice Lett – Chris Hinsperger.

Col. Jason Guiney, Commanding officer at Garrison Petawawa, and Chief Warrant Officer Todd Buchanan placed a wreath as did representatives of the Ontario Provincial Police, and soldiers in memory of Gulf War, Korean and Afghanistan veterans.

In his Remembrance Day address to personnel and the wider community, Col. Guiney said each year during Veterans Week the soldiers and civilians from Garrison Petawawa spread out to support communities across the Ottawa Valley and Pontiac, Quebec as they reflect on and commemorate the tremendous sacrifices of those who came before us.

“As a military community, Remembrance Day is one of the most important times of the year as it provides an opportunity to connect our past with our present,” he said. “As we reflect on the past, let us be aware of the many occasions being marked this year including the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force, the 80th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy, and the tenth anniversary of the end of the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan.”

Col. Guiney said since the founding of Garrison Petawawa in the early 1900s, the base has been home to Canadian soldiers training for all forms of operations or tasks. That training continues today and is equally as important as it was in every major war and conflict the Canadian Armed Forces has been a part of to date. “The sound of soldiers practicing their craft can still be heard from the training area daily as we prepare many Garrison Petawawa soldiers to deploy as part of the biggest reinforcement of NATO’s collective defence in a generation,” he said.

“Please take the time to remember our comrades, the men and women who never returned home and their friends and families, and reach out if you are struggling,” Col. Guiney remarked. “We must all remember that Canadians have fought to preserve our way of life, our shared Canadian values, and the freedom we enjoy today, which is something that must never be taken for granted.”