Korean War veteran Arthur Leggett carried a “soldier’s poem” as he paid his respect to his fallen comrades during yesterday’s Remembrance Day memorial.
He was among hundreds of people who crowded the streets near the Victory Square Cenotaph in Vancouver to take in the two minutes of silence. It was capped by a 21-gun salute that echoed up from the waterfront.
Leggett, 82, who spent 14 years in the Canadian military, said he used to carry a flag in the parade, but this year carried the poem wrapped in a white plastic grocery bag to protect it from the weather.
“The same guy who gave him that poem got blown up,” explained Tina McNeilly, Leggett’s daughter. “He was a minute away from getting blown up himself.”
The downtown event, which featured a flyover by a Canadian Forces Aurora aircraft, was one of several memorial services held around Vancouver yesterday. Others were held in Stanley Park, Commercial Drive, in South Vancouver and at the University of B.C.
Cpl. Dave Dines, a 20–year member of the Canadian Forces Medical Service, said it is important to “never forget and to pass on that to every generation and make sure they remember as well.”
