THUNDER BAY – For 97 years Canadians have been wearing poppies in the two weeks leading up to Remembrance Day, their way of honouring veterans who sacrificed their lives in war.
Although it’s been 100 years since the First World War came to an end and 73 since the conclusion of the Second World War, it’s still important to keep the soldiers and sailors of the past at the forefront, said 92-year-old naval veteran Roy Lamore, helping launch the annual poppy campaign at a flag-raising ceremony on Thursday at city hall.
“They’re laying in France at 18, 19. They’re laying in our cemeteries at 18 or 19. They were just getting out of school. They never even got a life,” said Lamore, who signed up for service at 17, a year younger than the minimum, at the tail end of the Second World War.
“And yet they went to war to give the privilege to what we’re living in today.”
While the 1914 to 1918 conflict was deemed at the time the war to end all wars, it wasn’t the case. Battles have been fought near constantly over the past century, taking Canada’s military to conflicts in Korea, Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention a return to the European theatre of war from 1939 to 1945.
Remembrance Day is also a chance to pay homage to more recent veterans, who fought battles unlike any the world had ever seen.
“They have a tough time. It was a lot different war than the First World War and the Second World War. It’s a different category and we still lose lives, no matter what it is,” he said. “It’s still a sacrifice, no matter who’s doing it.”
Ted Ciotucha, deputy district commander of District 8 of the Royal Canadian Legion, said the poppy campaign still plays a key role.
“The poppy has become a symbol of not only remembering the war and the people that fought in it, but it’s also a way to raise funds to do all of the work that the poppy campaign money does to support the veterans,” Ciotucha said, pointing to post-traumatic stress syndrome as just one of the things for which the money is used.
“Our parents, when they came back from the war, they suffered terribly with that and their crutch was alcohol and hard work and whatever they could do to get away from that.”
Poppies will be available at locations around the city starting on Friday. Donations are asked for, but not necessary, Ciotucha said.
