Fredericton Remembrance crowd thinks of Wainwright soldiers

A large crowd gathered around the cenotaph in downtown Fredericton on Wednesday for the city’s Remembrance Day ceremony, where many said the four soldiers killed in last month’s fire at CFB Wainwright in Alberta were on their minds.

The ceremony, led by the Royal Canadian Legion’s Fredericton branch, included a parade, two minutes of silence and the laying of wreaths at the cenotaph, CBC News reported. It also marked the Legion’s 100th year.

“Your presence affirms the freedoms we enjoy were paid for by others, and that we will not take them for granted,” veteran Allen Dillon, one of the speakers, told the crowd.

Fredericton resident Mary Jacobs said she came thinking of an uncle who survived the Second World War, and of the soldiers killed and injured at Wainwright. “I’m thinking of all those families. Their lives have been changed forever,” she told CBC.

Another attendee, Jim Morell, compared the present to the years just before the two world wars. “The more people remember, the more that we might think about making sure we don’t start wars,” he said.

Photos from The Canadian Press showed soldiers saluting during O Canada and a crowd that filled the space around the memorial after the ceremony. Near Fredericton, soldiers and cadets also paraded at a ceremony beside CFB Gagetown in Oromocto, home to one of the country’s largest military bases.

Sgt. Morgan Wong, Pte. Shaun Farrell, Pte. Aidan Goulding and Pte. Hayden Lykkemark died on Oct. 17 when wind drove a grass fire across a training area at the Alberta base. Thirty-nine others were hurt. Read our earlier reporting on the fire and on how 15 injured soldiers were on ventilators, and our coverage of Fredericton city council.

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