When was 18 and in the Canadian Armed Forces, Ron Raby remembered going sleepless for days while stationed in the town of Soest, West Germany. It was 1953, during the Cold War.
“We had to sleep in tents, in weather below 45 degrees,” Raby said.
Paul Scully remembers his first day on active duty in the military. “Your knees shake; your hands shake; your adrenaline pumps; your heart’s pounding,” he said.
In April 2007, eight Canadian soldiers, shouldering a wooden casket, marched across Kandahar Airfield. Five more caskets followed. As the plane, carrying the bodies of their fallen comrades, departed Afghanistan, pallbearer Mike Lassaline, 27, noted a single tear streaking down a friend’s cheek.
He is preparing for the future, but military trainee Michael Daniel understands the importance of the past. “You remember people have fought and died for the freedom of their country,” he said.
Susan Kidnie knew that she wouldn’t see her older brother on his 27th birthday (Nov. 6), but still wanted to surprise him. Kidnie, 25, bought him a copy of the brand new Goldeneye 007 for…
The Remembrance Day parade marks one of the few occasions when Ashley Zedner will publicly display his military medals. Zedner, 62, has too often experienced verbal abuse, aggressive behaviour from strangers and a “total lack…