That means a full-scale military parade to and around the Crescent Park cenotaph by soldiers from the Saskatchewan Dragoons, airmen from 15 Wing, cadets of all stripes and, of course, the Legion and Anavets.
But these are not traditional times.
With restrictions on gatherings in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all of the remembrance activities that traditionally take place the first weekend after June 2 – Decoration Day proper in Canada – were put on hold. That included the placing of flags on veterans gravesites and, yes, the entire parade and all the pomp and circumstance it entails.
But that wasn’t going to stop folks from at least making something happen.
The Saskatchewan Dragoons were joined by the local Legion and Anavets branches on Sunday morning for a low-key wreath-laying ceremony, featuring about a dozen people in total and a far cry from the hundreds who would take part normally.
“We all recognize that safety comes first, and most of our people who come out are in a high risk category so we wanted to protect people and keep everyone safe,” said Royal Canadian Legion Branch #59 president Sharon Erickson, who was joined by her counterpart from the Anavets #252, president Don Purington.
“We have to remember our veterans not just today, but every day, we think about them every day,” he said. “We’re involved all the time, the Legion and the Anavets, and this is something we felt we needed to do.”
Decoration Day pre-dates Remembrance Day by decades and was first held on June 2, 1890 when veterans placed decorations at the Canadian Volunteers Monument in Toronto on the anniversary of the Fenian raids. Once Canadian soldiers became more involved in international conflicts – and especially after the Boer War – the event became more celebrated and higher profile.
Today, it honours those who have fought for Canada in all conflicts, both before, during and after the First and Second World Wars.
While it was naturally disappointing to not have the large-scale event, doing something was heartening for both veterans organizations.
“There’s a lot we can’t do that this year because of COVID-19, so we wanted to so something in partnership with our fellow veteran organization to honour those who came before us,” Erickson said.
Originally, the Legion and Anavets had expected to be on their own at the cenotaph. But, coincidently enough, the Dragoons were wrapping up their own Zoom ceremony at the same time, adding a little bit of a positive twist to the whole thing.
“That’s a happy coincidence and it’s meaningful for all of us,” said Maj. Mack O’Driscoll, commanding officer of the Dragoons. “I think that’s something that’s inspiring about the pandemic, that people are finding so many ways to do similar things. It was nice to have our unit members join us from their homes and still honour the sacrifice Canadians made over the many years of conflict.”
Decoration Day usually marks the time of year when the Dragoons see their activities begin to wrap up for the summer, especially with many of their soldiers heading out on courses. That gives the event some extra meaning to the reservist group, and an extra reason to take part.
“It was really important for our unit to so something, even though it was different,” Driscoll said
“It’s definitely nice to have everyone come together, but it was certainly important to capture the essence of Decoration Day, which is to commemorate the actions of service members in the past.”
