Hundreds gather for Remembrance Day across the region

It was a cool one this Remembrance Day, but that didn’t keep the people home.

Ceremonies were held across the region this morning including one at the Waterloo cenotaph where service members both past and present as well as ordinary Canadians came to pay their respects and remember those who make the ultimate sacrifice.

The day began with a march from St. John’s Luthern Church, and ended with a somber minute of silence.

Mstr. Corporal Jeremy Janssens is an Afganistan veteran who came to the service at the cenotaph.

Janssens joined the forces to honour his grandfather who served in the Second World War.

He says for him, the day is about remembering those he served with who didn’t make it home.

“For me its about the guys I didn’t come home with in Afganistan, kind of like missing out, like they are not here to be standing with me. They had family and friends, and the family carries on, but they don’t. Like an emptiness”

Janssens adds the day is also about honouring those who did make it home, and continue to struggle.

“Even current serving veterans who are retired, they need help too. I am looking after a friend who can no longer be employed, but is an Afganistan veteran. I want people to remember that we need help.”

For the ordinary Canadians attending services across the country today, Janssens has a simple message.

“Any generation, the old generation, my generation, they need to be looked at, and not forgotten.”

Along with Waterloo, services were also held at both the Kitchener and Cambridge cenotaphs, where hundreds braved the cold.