This is the day when thousands of Canadians attend Remembrance Day observances in towns and cities coast to coast.
This is Remembrance Day, 2021.
In many communities Canadian veterans and their families continue to innovate for this third year of the COVID-19 experience, once again doing things differently, than they have in the past.
The changes are necessary, too, due to the aging of our Canadian veteran population and difficulties many branches of the Royal Canadian Legion are experiencing in recruiting volunteer staffing.
Elliot Lake Mayor Dan Marchisella is a Canadian veteran of the war in Afghanistan.
Since his election in 2014 he has taken a prominent part in Elliot Lake's commemoration of the Armistice that ended the First World War, on Nov. 11, 1918.
From his unique perspective, Mayor Marchisella shares with us what the annual ceremony at the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, means to him.
He has a few ideas, as well, about the pervasive memories associated with thoughts, words and deeds, from the field of battle, from a soldier's point of view.
That experience is something that many of Canada's war heroes, men and women, share after their time of military service to our country.
I don't think most people understand what soldiers go through while on tour away from home. It’s not only the horror of up close and personal war scenes that are trapped in your mind forever but the smells and sounds that can bring back memories.
Many coming home with permanent physical injuries, some with mental injuries, and many with things such as parasites and rashes.
Being away from family, loved ones and your children while being in a place where every animal and insect can kill you, anyone walking by may have a bomb strapped to them.
Constantly waiting to be ambushed or shot at leaves you in a mental state of "trust no one!"
I recall many times sitting in an OP (Observation Post), with various different missions on the mind, where the conversation was always the same...."What are we doing here? Why are we here?"
In September 2005, my crew was at an OP north of Kabul watching a newly built medical centre. That night we apprehended two Taliban members who had broken into the medical centre and were stealing boxes of medication.
We could see everything clearly from our OP using Thermal Imaging. Myself and Fireteam partner Marco went down and surprised the two, disarmed them and cuffed them. We took them back to our OP to wait for the Military Police to arrive for handover.
At the OP we uncuffed them and after a few hours of chatting with the older individual, sharing cookies and tea with them, they were picked up by the MP's and carted away.
Come November while on a Route Recce outside of Gazni, we came across an older Afghani man running towards the vehicle shouting "CANADA! CANADA!", very bad idea in any scenario, but none of our crew shot at the man even though this is a perfect portrait of a suicide bomber attempting to attack.....
This was not the case, it turns out that it was the same old guy we had arrested two months earlier who had been stopping every Canadian vehicle looking for us, so he could say. "Thank you for arresting me, the police found my brother and family who had been given farmland, I thought my whole family was dead but now I have a second chance because of you, Canada."
That's why we do what we do as soldiers....the moments like that, make the risk worthwhile.
Cheers, Dan
Mayor Marchisella served with 42A, Armoured Recce Squadron from the Royal Canadian Dragoons.
He is taking part in this year’s Remembrance Day Ceremony in Elliot Lake, Thursday, Nov. 11 at 10:30 a.m. at the Elliot Lake cenotaph, organized by the members of Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 561.