Hundreds of Trail residents gathered today under balmy skies to mark Remembrance Day.
In her address to the crowd at the Pine Avenue cenotaph, Rev. Meridyth Robertson reflected on the symbolism of the poppy, which was officially adopted in Canada in 1921 by the Great War Veterans’ Association (a precursor to the Royal Canadian Legion) as a symbol of remembrance. It was inspired by John McRae’s poem, In Flanders Fields.
“It has become a habit to don a poppy at this [time of] year, but do we really think about what it stands for?” Robertson asked. “Do we think of the poppies in Flanders Fields amid the crosses row on row? Do we really think of the cost paid for us that we might have the freedom to we enjoy today? Or do we spend more time thinking and complaining about how long the poppy will stay on our coat before we lose it? What do you think when you see a poppy?”
She added: “Remembrance Day is the opportunity for us to join together across this great country of Canada to remember and give thanks for all the soldiers who fought for our freedom. Those who came home forever changed and those who died so that others may live.”
As is tradition in Trail, the names of local men killed in the First World War, Second World War, Korean War, and Vietnam War were read out one by one.
