Transcona residents mark Remembrance Day as their local legion sees fewer surviving veterans
By: Savannah Guzzi
“We must not let their memories fade, we must keep them alive when we remember the sacrifices they made for us,” said Peter Martin, 80, gazing up at the red triangle banners that display the names and photographs of fallen Transcona veterans.
On the walls of the Transcona Legion, these banners hang motionless.
“[My father, Paul Martin] landed on Juno Beach,” said Martin, who followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the Canadian Armed Forces.
Some fellow legion members boast about Martin’s accomplishments discovering the people buried in unmarked graves in the Transcona Cemetery, but he remains humble by brushing off the comments. Martin said he is grateful that he never had to put his life on the line.
When asked about his time with the CAF, Martin prefers to talk about his father’s accomplishments.
Martin never heard the wartime stories until his father turned 90. The memories were too much to relive, and his father would break down in tears even thinking about them.
His dad enlisted at 18 and deployed in the first wave on Juno Beach in Normandy, France.
More than 359 Canadians died in combat on the French coastline when they were sent to attack German forces on June 6, 1944, according to The Canadian Encyclopedia.
“They arrived on the beach, and he was just the luck of the draw,” said Martin. His father’s friends died during the first attack on Juno Beach.
There is one living Second World War veteran who belongs to the Transcona Legion who did not attend the service.
“He is 100 years old, I tried to get him to come, but he wanted to stay home in his pyjamas,” said Martin.
There are currently an estimated 3,691 surviving Canadian Second World War veterans, according to Veterans Affairs Canada.
Martin said there were 123 soldiers from Transcona who never made it home.
According to the Government of Canada, more than 44,000 Canadian soldiers died during the Second World War.
“We can’t forget their sacrifice,” said Martin, who commissioned the banners a few years ago.
Master Sailor Dave Rowat said that Canadians must not take their freedom for granted.
“What we have in Canada is not given, we must remember what we lost to appreciate what we now have,” said Rowat, who has been in the Royal Canadian Navy for 18 years.
“The benefits of serving your country outweigh the sacrifice you give,” said Rowat, as he fiddled with his Canadian Forces’ Decoration medal on his uniform, which honours 12 years of service.
Rowat, who is retiring from the armed forces in six months, said that he hopes that youth never forget the sacrifices made by veterans for our freedom, especially those who served in the Second World War.
“They’re slowly dying out, we are seeing so little of them now,” said Martin about the decreasing population of Canadian veterans.
