The Sarnia Historical Society partook in the Remembrance Day Ceremony in Sarnia. We marched with other wreath bearers and were honoured to have Tom Slater and his father Oliver Slater lay a wreath on our behalf.
“The laying of the wreath was a tremendous honour for both of us” says Tom Slater. “It was something that myself and my father, a veteran of WWII, have never had the opportunity to do. The memory of laying the wreath with my father by my side will last me forever.”
Slater continued, “For me, I felt incredibly blessed to be able to represent the Sarnia Historical Society, an organization that I have so much respect and admiration for. During the brief moment when I was standing at the cenotaph, looking at the names, my mind was flooded with many of the stories of the men, and of the sacrifices they made. I felt deeply touched and humbled by their memory.”
“For my father Oliver, he said he thought of many of the “kids” that he went to school with and then went to war with, some never to return (he was 17 when he went to war). He remembered specifically one of his closet friends, a school buddy that my father described as, “he and I were the two dunces, always at the back of the class.” His friend was aboard the HMCS Esquimalt when it was torpedoed off the east coast, the last Canadian warship to be lost during the war. In a strange twist, my father did not know that it was the HMCS Sarnia that carried out the life saving rescue of the Esquimalt survivors. Forty-four men were lost in that sinking, there were 27 survivors, including my dad’s close friend. The war would end three weeks later. Thank you for a lasting memory.”
(left) Tom St Amand, Tom Slater, Oliver Slater, Phil Egan stand with ‘Big Tom” Cannon in its new location at Veterans Park
A shot of Sarnia Police and Sarnia Fire Officers marching in this years Remembrance Day ceremony.
Soldiers standing on guard at the Royal Canadian Legion in Sarnia Ontario.
The Sarnia Cenotaph with all wreaths laid after the 2015 Remembrance Day ceremony.
The Sarnia Legion Branch 62 pipe band play at the Sarnia Legion.