Next generation of Sask. veterans emphasize awareness as they carry on Remembrance Day traditions
CBC
The new generation of veterans has a big responsibility ahead — ensuring the sacrifices many service members have made are never forgotten.
It's a responsibility Paul Valiquette and Norm Marner take seriously.
"Passing the torch is so important," said Valiquette, who spent 20 years in the Canadian Armed Forces and served on multiple overseas deployments, including two tours in Afghanistan.
Although Remembrance Day is meant to honour all Canadian war veterans, there has usually been a focus on veterans who fought in the first and second world wars, along with the Korean War. But as time goes on, there are fewer veterans around who served in those wars to share their stories.
"It's kind of difficult for the general population to understand what they've gone through, and myself even to see what they've gone through," said Valiquette, who's also a provincial service officer for the Saskatchewan Legion and provides mental health first aid to veterans in the province.
He said service members overseas now have access to technology like the internet and phones, whereas veterans from previous wars could only communicate with their loved ones through mail, which made the situation even more challenging.
"Try to think about what they went through and the sacrifices that they made for us to have our freedoms now," he said.
"It'd be nice to have more than just one day to reflect on it, because they did so much."
Norm Marner, who joined the service in 1974 and was deployed to countries including Germany, Egypt and Afghanistan, said he'd also like to see more appreciation for the veterans who fought before him.
"I think it's important for our young generation to understand what we have and why we have it," said Marner, who is now retired in Regina.
"It was because of World War One and World War Two and Korean veterans… Those are the guys I really look up to."
He also said he wants more recognition of the contributions Indigenous, Black and Asian veterans have made to the Canadian military.
Valiquette and Marner emphasized the importance of education when it comes to understanding the sacrifices veterans have made, along with learning lessons from the past.
"History repeats itself and we've seen that all too much," said Valiqutte.
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