Remembrance Day service at cenotaph - LNN

By Dori Modney and Photo-journalist Brandyn Montgomery

Huge attendance for Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day in Lethbridge; thought provoking presentations

Nov 11, 2019 | 6:09 PM

LETHBRIDGE — “The act of Remembrance, is as much about you, as it is about the fallen – this is a special day, and I would even say a sacred day and what makes something sacred is sacrifice. In fact, in Latin, the word sacred means something is sacred because of the sacrifice made for it to become so.”

Those words were a small portion of the presentation Major Robert Mein spoke to those assembled at the Exhibition services and the Lethbridge cenotaph on Monday, as he thanked veterans. He noted the theme of the day was, of course, remembrance, and he hoped to relate things that were perhaps new and original while possibly brining some insight.

Major Mein asked those assembled to think back to the movie “Saving Private Ryan” and one of its last scenes.

“Captain John Miller, played by Tom Hanks, asked Private Ryan to be worthy of the sacrifice that his squad of seven soldiers made for him. This is essential to that movie, as it asks this generation Are you worthy of the sacrifice these remarkable soldiers, sailors, pilots and air crews made for you?”

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“You might ask – How do I live worthy of such a sacrifice? I think we live worthy of that sacrifice by keeping three promises we make on this day – and the three promises we make are for one; to never forget, meaning to have gratitude and give thanks for all that’s been given. The second promise we make is to take up the torch passed to us by those who have fallen. The third promise is to honour those who gave us that sacrifice of their lives, by being the best version of ourselves that we can be.”

Lethbridge M.P Rachel Harder, believes Remembrance Day is important for us to come together as a community and recognize those women and men who served our country so faithfully.

“Today we talked about sacrifice and the importance of that and at the ceremony it was also talked about service and the importance of giving back to the community and those are principles that live on beyond the men and woman who served this country well.”

“We are called to continue to serve selflessly today and we’re called to continue to honour not only the fallen of the past but, I think we honour our future by stewarding our present.”

One of the things that stuck out about the Remembrance Day ceremonies at both the Exhibition and the cenotaph, were the massive crowds that showed up to commemorate the acts of service of those who have gone before.

Hundreds of attendees at Exhibition service — LNN

Another large crowd at cenotaph service – LNN