École St. Joseph School Remembrance Day event

Remembrance Day is an important day in our history as it marks the efforts to maintain our freedom, and is a day to remember those who fought for our country. École St. Joseph School held its Remembrance Day event last Thursday with a few special guests from the Royal Canadian Legion, RCMP, Whitecourt Air Cadets, and the Mayerthorpe Army Cadets. Students from all grades gathered in the gymnasium to watch a video comprised of photos of Canadian soldiers marching off to war, passed battlegrounds, Vimy Ridge, and Flanders Fields with thousands of crosses to remember the fallen. School teachers Denis Callaghin and John Detka gave their tribute to guests and students through music and sang the familiar war song, “One tin soldier.”

World War l lasted four years and ended in 1918 on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month when Britain and Germany signed a truce (armistice). Later, that date in November was officially named as Remembrance Day which was recognized around the world.

Over 619,000 Canadians enlisted during World War l. By the end of the war, an estimated 66,966 Canadians died and another 149,732 were wounded. World War l was one of the deadliest conflicts in history and involved 32 countries and resulted in millions of casualties. The total number of both military and civilian deaths is estimated to be around 37 million. Many soldiers died in battle, others went missing, died in prison camps from the Spanish flu and other diseases and poor treatment. A day was created in which people take two minutes of silence to remember the soldiers of war from past and present.