JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- The Western Air Defense Sector Canadian Detachment marked Remembrance Day with a small outdoor parade ceremony in front of the WADS building Nov. 11, 2020, due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Brandon A. Lee, Consul General of Canada in Seattle, and Royal Canadian Army Brig. Gen. Stephane Boivin, First Corps Deputy Commanding General of Operations addressed the parade formation and spoke about the importance of this day.
Remembrance Day marks the anniversary of the end of the Great War (WWI) and is a day of remembrance for all those who have served and are serving throughout the world today. “It is a day of remembrance for those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their Country and who paid the price for freedom,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Thomas Nguyen, narrator for the ceremony.
Nguyen explained that the playing of “last post” and “reveille” is used to draw the symbolic association between the Soldier's last duty of “sitting sentry” (last post and death) and his “rising” above his mortal duties (reveille). Two minutes of silence is placed between these two bugle calls to mark the remembrance of the fallen.
Royal Canadian Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Fawcett, WADS Canadian Detachment commander, explained that the 2020 Remembrance Day parade is a poignant ceremony for members of the WADS Canadian Detachment and re-emphasized to everyone the importance to remember all those that have served and are serving and those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the freedoms we all enjoy today.