Just returned from the Remembrance Day service in Port Maitland. What a splendid turnout! In excess of 300 people came out on a beautiful, sunny, warm Fall day to honour all those who have served and currently serve. As requested, here is the text of my address... Remembrance Day 2014 Good morning everyone, and thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to join us. My name is Gerry Curry. My father joined the Royal Canadian Navy at the outbreak of World War Two. At the end of the war he was offered the Queen’s Commission and served for twenty-six years as a naval officer. I followed in my father’s footsteps and served in the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve before transferring to the Canadian Forces, serving both ashore and afloat. I never went to war like my father, but my service included long periods at sea with NATO, a period in isolation at Canadian Forces Station Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island, and a tour as a Peacekeeper on the Golan Heights between Israel and Syria. In that time I watched bullets fly, I saw comrades injured, and I saw comrades die, both as a result of operational accidents and at the hands of an unseen foe. I saw the effects of our chosen profession on our families and the toll it took on many of us through physical injury and psychological conditions such as PTSD. It has been the tradition of these Remembrance Day services to concentrate on the veterans of the world wars. Today however, we must start do more, and we must start to remember more. I ask you, as you bow your heads for this year’s moment of silence, to remember not just the veterans of the wars, but all veterans, including those who currently serve. I ask you to remember those who served in Korea. Those who served in the Cold War. Those who served in Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf and the Horn of Africa. Those who serve as Peacekeepers. Those who risk life and limb in disaster relief missions around the world. Those who serve in the dozens of isolated stations in remote places around the country. Those who serve around the world with the UN, NATO and NORAD. Those who are on exchange with many of the armed forces of our allies. Those who serve in our embassies and consulates around the world, guarding a tiny patch of Canada in a far off country. Since the end of conventional war we, as a nation, have chosen to send our servicemen and women, as well as many of our police officers, on missions around the world, not just to protect our interests, but to support our allies and the international obligations we have agreed to. In many ways, these missions are every bit as dangerous and every bit as unpredictable as conventional war. These veterans, as well as those who serve today, deserve our respect and our admiration. Please remember them today and every day. #LestWeForget #RemembranceDay #RememberThem
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 16:43:13 +0000