I'm starting today with a series that I took on Remembrance Day earlier this month, featuring first the ceremony at the National War Memorial, which had military pipes and drums musicians lead out the veterans towards the Memorial. The service includes two minutes of silence at the eleventh hour, prayers in both official languages as well as a First Nations language, music, the firing of cannons, an official flypast, and the laying of wreaths at the Memorial. The crowds, as always, were large, showing support and appreciation for the veterans. Those surviving veterans of the Second World War are less in number each year.
After the service was finished, the veterans returned up Elgin Street and came around onto Wellington for the march past the Governor General, a formal salute that continues to carry on through time. They were followed by active members of all of the service branches, members of the Ceremonial Guard and the Highlanders, cadets of the Royal Military College in Kingston, and members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. There were even service dogs among the ranks of the veterans.
All this is very well, we must remember the things that have happened in the nation.
ReplyDeleteTomás.
Magnificas e belas fotografias, gostei bastante.
ReplyDeleteUm abraço e boa semana.
Andarilhar
A lot of parades on the street.
ReplyDeletewow - how beautiful!
ReplyDeletefancy times. the neon yellow is even more bright than the reds. wow wee!! happy week! ( :
ReplyDeletei love a parade! i enjoyed the photos!
ReplyDeleteI see lots of colorful uniforms that we don't see down here. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteI love parades, the last two pics are my preferred in this series.
ReplyDeleteA grand parade and looks like the people enjoyed it as it marched on by.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful commemoration! I especially like the marching redcoats.
ReplyDeleteColorful and huge. With that many to include in a parade you need a long route.
ReplyDelete@Tomas: yes, we must.
ReplyDelete@Francisco: thank you.
@Marianne: this is very much the central ceremony for our country on Remembrance Day.
@Hilary: it is, yes.
@Beth: the jackets of those first responders, both paramedics and police officers, stand out. As it turns out, they were needed- there was a gust of wind that brought down a section of plywood off the scaffolding around the old post office, and the paramedics came in to treat someone among the onlookers who'd been injured.
@Tanya: thank you.
@Sharon: there are even uniforms from other countries- military attaches at embassies participate in placing wreaths.
@Karl: thanks!
@Bill: it was quite a crowd, and a cold day.
@Lowell: so do I.
@Red: they've got it well organized.
I find the service from Ottawa to be so very moving each year and try to watch the end of it (with the one hour time difference) when we return from our local service. I also enjoy the marching bands and bagpipes.
ReplyDeleteI have always loved the red RCMP uniforms! Cool series, William!
ReplyDeleteThat's an impressive parade.
ReplyDeleteGreat that there all still veterans present.
Love these parades that honor our veterans.
ReplyDeleteAlways nice to honor those who have served their country. On an overcast day, the red uniforms pop!
ReplyDeleteJanis
GDP
@Pamela: I always take this ceremony in. It's the piper's lament that seems to always get to me in particular.
ReplyDelete@Linda: they're very distinctive uniforms.
@Jan: yes, but fewer by the year. Their ranks are replenished by veterans of more recent military service.
@Linda: I do as well.
@Janis: they do, yes.
Hey William. I was trying to find you on G+. Are you on that?
ReplyDeleteIt was quite a ceremony!
ReplyDeleteMost of our surviving WWII veterans are sadly gone as well....
ReplyDeleteLove those blaze red uniforms. So did our Minutemen. :-)
ReplyDeleteMy Dad was a WWII veteran. I miss him. This looks like a wonderful event.
ReplyDeleteWWII vets are fewer and fewer.
ReplyDelete@Whisk: I am, I think, but I pay no attention to it.
ReplyDelete@RedPat: it was!
@Norma: and more go all the time.
@Revrunner: ah ha!
@Lois: it's always worth attending.
@Mari: especially as time goes on and on. Soon there won't be any.
My dad was WWII vet also. Important post, William
ReplyDeleteI certainly think so.
DeleteGreat parade. I love the bright red uniforms.
ReplyDeleteThey do stand out.
DeletePlenty of pomp and ceremony. Everyone looked sharp although I notice some canes among the WWII vets. I'm glad they're among the honored.
ReplyDeleteAnd each year there are fewer of them.
DeleteI was housebound that day, but you weren't!
ReplyDeleteEach year I get out to this event.
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