Remembrance Day will be commemorated at Riverside Park Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. at the memorial cenotaph.
For veterans this is a very important day to not only remember those who were lost but also to commemorate those who are still serving the country.
George Dersch is a Canadian Armed Forces veteran with 32 years combined years of service in both the Navy and the Army.
He served three tours in Cyprus. The first tour was in 1970 and the second tour was in 1974 during the Turkish invasion. His third tour was in 1980, where he served with Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.
“Remembrance Day is one day of the year, it doesn’t matter where I am, what I’m doing, I will always participate,” said Dersch. He shared that he will always respect the heroes that were lost and the veterans that still stand.
For Dersch, Remembrance Day is not just about the soldiers who were lost in the World Wars, it is also about the young soldiers and people currently serving.
“When you see a young soldier, sailor, or airman in uniform, they deserve the respect for being a veteran, for doing their job,” said Dersch. “Remembrance is more than just wearing a red poppy on the left-hand side above your heart. It is the respect of every person that has served, whether they have medals or not.”
Mike Young is the president of the Kamloops Legion Branch 52. He joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1976 and spent most of his career in the military with service battalions. He got out of the regular army in 1983, and joined the reserves in 1990. After that he joined the Rocky Mountain Rangers as an infantry officer, and he finished his career in 2008.
“I think Remembrance Day is extremely important, just because our country was built on the soldiers that went to war,” said Young. “I think it’s important to remember at least once a year those that sacrificed, paid the ultimate sacrifice.”
Max Birkner is the officer commanding Alpha Company with the Rocky Mountain Rangers reserve unit in Kamloops. His job consists of ensuring that the reserve soldiers are trained and ready to augment the regular force on operations or exercises.
He joined the army reserve in 2005 with the Seaport Highlanders of Canada in Vancouver. He was a noncommissioned member with them and went overseas to Afghanistan in 2009 to 2010. He then joined the Rocky Mountain Rangers in Kamloops.
“Rememberance day continues to be just as important as it has been since it began, basically. There are so many soldiers still serving Canada both at home and abroad,” said Birkner.
In Kamloops there are approximately 50 infantry soldiers ready to deploy. “There are the families of current serving members who sacrifice a tremendous amount of time with their loved ones … there are great dangers both in training and when soldiers school overseas on exercises or on operations and there are service members that are killed sometimes,” said Birkner.
Their work should also be recognized and honoured.