Tears shed at ceremony

Author: Frank Matys

Date: Nov 12, 2009

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Veterans and residents gathered at the cenotaph outside Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital Wednesday morning for Orillia’s annual Remembrance Day ceremony.

ORILLIA, ON: “Little kids ask me, ‘Did you get scared?’”
At 92 years of age and more than six decades removed from his wartime experience, Arthur Angus doesn’t hesitate when answering the question posed by children curious to know whether life on the battlefield was frightening.
“No,” he’ll tell them, “you are too busy concentrating on the fighting and your own survival and the survival of the rest of the troops.”
Angus, the city’s second oldest veteran, then frames his answer in terms someone untouched by the horrors of war might better understand.
“It is just like if you are on an icy road and go into a skid, you don’t think of the danger, you think about getting out of the skid,” he adds helpfully.
Remembrance Day was approaching, and Angus hoped to attend the local ceremony outside Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital, where fellow vets and other community members gather annually before the cenotaph.
Though his advanced age has made standing for lengthy periods difficult, it has done little to dim the memory of his time spent fighting for Canada’s armed forces.
Angus, a lieutenant, served with an anti-tank regiment during his five years in Europe, providing support to members of the infantry in Italy, the Netherlands and England.
Many would never return home.
“When you are over there and it’s your first experience in battle and you see your comrades dead, it is quite a shock,” he says.
Those who did return to Canada were often never the same.
“Some of them came back so badly battered,” he adds. “Some of them spent the rest of their days in the veterans’ hospitals.”
He thinks of the families, too, whose husbands and fathers did not return, their lives cut short in distant lands.
Angus, of course, did return to Canada, and for that he remains forever grateful.
“I give thanks,” he says.
Scores of residents assembled in front of the hospital Wednesday morning, young and old applauding as veterans approached the cenotaph shortly before 11 a.m.
Tears were shed as the vets passed by to take their place at the top of the U-shaped drive.
Moments later, the Last Post rang out and silence fell.
“Today is a day of remembrance, to be reminded that, over four wars, as many as 1.7 million men and women served our country in military uniforms, and they served our country with pride and dignity to preserve the cause of freedom,” said Major Gary High, a padre at the local Royal Canadian Legion branch.