KILLALOE – Around 120 military personnel took part in the Killaloe-Hagarty-Richards Township’s Remembrance Day ceremony on November 11.
Like last year, members of the Garrison Petawawa’s Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 2 Service Battalion attended the service.
The ceremony started with a parade march, which had soldiers walk up Queen Street alongside students from local elementary schools. Children from St. Mary’s Catholic School, Killaloe Public School and St. Andrew’s Catholic School attended the ceremony.
As the soldiers neared the municipal office in Killaloe, four vigil party members stood on guard around the cenotaph. The National Anthem was played before KHR Mayor Janice Visneskie Moore was asked to say a few words to the hundreds gathered.
“Here we are today to remember,” she said. “We must remember all of our military, the men and women who have and still do, work to provide all Canadian citizens the rights of freedom.”
She paid tribute to Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent and Corporal Nathan Cirillo, two military officers who were killed in two separate incidences last month.
“They died senselessly,” Visneskie Moore said. “Today I ask that each and every one of you to please take the time to thank a veteran…and thank the members of the military that are here with us today…Look at the wonderful men and women that stand before you. They are here to protect us as Canadian citizens and to continue to ensure that we have the rights and freedom that we so enjoy.”
Visneskie Moore thanked Kathy Marion and Maria Mayville for organizing the day’s ceremony.
Get your November 12, 2014 edition of The Valley Gazette to read more of this story.