THUNDER BAY - Warrant Officer Henry Lewis, who served in Germany, Belgium, and Holland during the height of the Cold War in the 1960s said he can feel it in his heart when he thinks of the men and women who sacrificed so much before him, including his father who fought in Holland during the Second World War and where he met his future wife.
“I appreciate all of the service my older comrades did for us, for freedom in this country,” he said.
Lewis was among more than 150 people who participated in the Slovak Legion’s Remembrance Day ceremony, which was combined with the ceremony that was to take place at the cenotaph outside city hall but moved indoors due to the weather.
“This year, because of the inclement weather, I didn’t want the public standing outside in that horrible rain,” said Ken Milenko, organizer of the Remembrance Day ceremony at the Fort William Gardens, which wasn’t able to take place again this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“Since the Slovak has a big enough hall, I decided to move it indoors and blend it in with their service. The drawback is we are not able to pay our respects right at 11 o’clock, which is key for Remembrance Day.”
Despite the last-minute change and the heavy rain and winds, more than 150 people still came out to participate in the ceremony, which included local leaders, members of the Canadian Armed Forces, veterans, and cadets.
“I’ve got to say thanks to the entire population of the city who wants to attend and made it to the Slovak on such short notice. It’s such a huge thing for us Legion people and for all the Canadian Armed Forces to pay our respects on this day. This was the armistice. It’s very important to us,” Milenko said.
“The most important part is we are paying our respect to our veterans who have fallen and our current serving members.”
Victor Renouf, president of the Slovak Legion, echoed the importance of remembering those who gave so much, including the families of service men and women fighting for their country in conflicts both past and present.
“We’ve got to keep remembering because too many young men and women lost their lives for their country. I was born in 1941 and my father went off to war and we never knew if he was coming back or not and we had to survive,” he said.
“There are too many people that don’t remember and too many people that take the armed forces for granted. They have no idea what these people did for us. It’s got to carry on. That’s why I do it.”
And while the chaos and tragedy of war is something that is never forgotten, moments of kindness and sympathy also had a lasting impact.
While serving in Holland, Lewis was able to connect with family members still living there, which all started with his father searching houses during the Second World War.
“He was going house to house clearing, looking for Germans,” he said. “He went to my Opa’s house and kicked the door in and my Opa says, don’t shoot, don’t shoot. My mother came in front of her father and said: don’t shoot, don’t shoot. They thought my father and his partner were Germans.”
Many atrocities were committed against the Dutch people by the Nazis during the occupation until Canadian soldiers liberated Holland, which has created a lasting bond between the two nations.
When Lewis’ mother and Opa realized his father was not German, but Canadian, it was the start of another long-lasting bond.
“In the meantime, they were talking and talking and my father said he would be back,” Lewis said. “It took him four months to come back because he was fighting in the Scheldt and he got shot up there in the legs. Then he came back and married my mother and here I am. It’s a good story.”
