THUNDER BAY -- Once more two best friends heard the call to service and once more they answered over the skies of Mount McKay.
Frank Banning and John Baptiste "Sunshine" Louis grew up on Fort William First Nation doing everything together. When war came they enlisted together and side-by-side stormed the beach at Normandy on June 6,1944, the last day of Louis' life. Banning would live to 84, passing away in 2010.
And yet there they were side-by-side again Tuesday morning during Fort William First Nation's Remembrance Day ceremony, soaring as eagles over the crowd of hundreds who journeyed to Mount McKay to honour First Nations veterans.
Banning's daughter Catherine knew it was the two as soon as the pipe ceremony, which invites ancestors in, began.
"To honour us with their presence and their wisdom and to honour us with the peace that they bring with them," she said.
The playing of Taps followed a traditional drum song. School children sang Oh Canada in both English and Ojibway a testament to how the ceremony, now almost 20 years old, blends military service with the traditions of Fort William First Nation.
It's important for the community to hold the ceremony on land that has been sacred since time began.
"It's sacred land, Mount McKay," she said. "It's the place that we come to find our peace."
The crowd, which grows larger every year, speaks volumes for how important the day is Chief Georjann Morriseau said, whether honouring veterans in general or a specific lost loved one.
"It means a lot just to be here and to be in that presence and to honour their memories," she said.
