MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- It might seem hard to believe in the modern era, but there was a time when military veterans weren’t recognized for their sacrifices, when those who fought for freedom and to protect the country were often simply ignored when they returned home.
On June 2, 1890, that all changed.
A group of veterans of the Battle of Ridgeway in 1866 decided that they had been overlooked long enough, and took it upon themselves to place decorations at the Canadian Volunteers Monument in Toronto.
One year later, 30,000 participants took part in a parade to honour those veterans, and with that, Decoration Day was born.
The event is now celebrated across Canada on the first Sunday of every June, with the goal of recognizing those who fought in the country's earliest battles and who aren’t necessarily part of Remembrance Day.
The memorial services took place in Moose Jaw at Rosedale Cemetery on Sunday morning, with members of the public joined by the Royal Canadian Legion, ANAVETS, Saskatchewan Dragoons and 15 Wing as well as the local cadet corps in honouring those who served in Canada’s military.
“It’s very, very important to us,” said Legion president Bob Travale. “Any kind of memorial service, especially today and November 11 is really important to the veterans. It’s also really nice to see the cadets take part as well, because it educates them and teaches the young about the wars in the past, and hopefully teach them that, well, we shouldn’t have wars anymore.”
The decoration part of Decoration Day sees a small army of volunteers visit each of the local cemeteries and place a small Canadian flag on the graves of fallen veterans. It makes for a stirring sight, with thousands of flags lining headstones at gravesites all over the city,
“The East End cemetery really impresses me, because there are RCMP in there that go back to the Batoche Rebellion in the 1800s,” Travale said. “There’s a lot of history and a lot of veterans in Moose Jaw and the surrounding area, and you can really see some of it when you’re putting out the flags.”
Travale estimated that over 2,000 flags had been placed at the Rosedale, Sunset and East End cemeteries in the hours prior to the Decoration Day ceremony.
The event itself included a laying of wreaths by several local organizations, including the City of Moose Jaw, RCMP and Moose Jaw Police Service, among others.
Comrade Justin Eddison -- himself a veteran of the Afghanistan war -- told of the history of Decoration Day, and 15 Wing chaplain Rev. Andrew Klinger offered the Opening Prayer, Act of Remembrance and Benediction.
The Last Post and Rouse was played on bugle by Capt. Rick Elmer while bagpiper Michelle Gallagher played the Piper’s Lament.
