“Hostilities will cease at 11-hundred hours.”
These were the words sent to soldiers on Nov. 11, 1918, fighting the biggest war in human history.
Richmond residents were reminded of this moment on Friday by Remembrance Day Committee chair Matthew McBride as they gathered at the cenotaph in front of city hall to honour those who served in Canada’s wars.
This year, a wreath was also laid by the Sylvia Hart, the mother-in-law of RCMP Const. Shaelyn Yang who died on Oct. 18 in the line of duty. The wreath was on behalf of Silver Cross Mothers, those mothers who have lost a child in the line of duty.
Yang was a Richmond resident and worked for the Burnaby RCMP. She was responding to a homeless campsite in a park in October when she was stabbed and consequently died of her injuries.
“A loss of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police is a loss for everyone in the military family, every Canadian,” McBride said.
McBride noted 118,000 Canadians have died in the line of duty, “in the service of our nation.”
“May we live our lives in honour of their sacrifice and strive to live up to the courage and commitment they showed us so we can live in a world of peace,” McBride said.
Hundreds of people had gathered to watch the procession, which included the 39th Service Battalion, the RCMP, six cadet corps, Richmond Fire-Rescue, St. John Ambulance, Canadian Border Services Agency, Royal Canadian Marine Search & Rescue and other service agencies, as well as the ceremony, emceed by McBride.
In addition to honouring Yang, Private Edward Williams, a young Indigenous Steveston fisherman, who was only 15 when he signed up for the First World War, was honoured with a wreath laid by his family members Doug Wilson and Cody Brentzen.
Williams died on April 14, 1917 after developing gangrene from a gunshot wound to his femur.
“He was too young to vote, but , in any case, as an Indigenous Canadian, he did not have that right,” McBride told the Remembrance Day crowd.
“Private Williams’ direct descendents are here in attendance today and have the full rights of all Canadians that a 17-year-old Steveston fisherman chose to fight for,” McBride added.
Richmond resident Hadar Dionne came to the Remembrance Day with her three children. For her, Nov. 11 is about remembering the Holocaust and other family members who have served in the Israeli military.
“We come out to honour who we know who have served and have sacrificed, and to honour the families that didn’t get to have their loved ones come home,” Dionne said.
The in-person gathering this year, after the COVID-19 pandemic pushed ceremonies online the past two years, was important to Dionne.
“It was really important for the families to feel the community is behind them,” she said, adding, not just for those soldiers who are physically injured, but mentally and emotionally injured, it’s important to see “that people actually care about them.”
