William Stanfield, a survivor of the Juno Beach D-Day landings, was one of many people at Toronto’s Old City Hall this Remembrance Day who had seen the terror and devastation of war.
"I was in Normandy and Normandy was a killing ground," said the Scarborough man, now 91, who was in a Canadian Bren gun carrier in that region of France in 1944.
Their small tracked vehicle was equipped with a flamethrower, but it was up against 88-calibre guns which could destroy a tank from three miles away.
"They were knocking our vehicles out like they were toys," said Stanfield, who was wounded in one leg and later worked 32 years as a Toronto firefighter.
Just being at the ceremony at Queen and Bay streets and another at the city’s Prospect Cemetery earlier in the morning "means an awful lot," he said.
Canadians "took our place in the world through heroic acts and sacrifices in the cause of freedom," and those who did not return are still owed a debt, said Ceta Ramkhalawansingh, a Trinity-Spadina councillor delivering remarks at Old City Hall for Mayor Rob Ford, who was too ill to attend.
This year’s remembrance is "particularly sad" following the loss of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, Canadian soldiers killed in separate attacks last month because of the uniforms they wore.
"These are very sad reminders of what we must continue to fight for," Ramkhalawansingh told the crowd gathered around the downtown cenotaph.
Rev. Hugh Donnelly, a chaplain for Toronto Fire Services, also referred to Cirillo and Vincent, and perhaps to Pte. Steven Allen as well, who lost his life last week in a training accident in Alberta.
"Our hearts heavy with the recent deaths of military personnel on our own soil," said Donnelly.
The chaplain called on people to grieve for those who bled in pursuit of peace or have known loss, but said we may draw strength from those who have given so much.
Standing nearby were many who recognized the sacrifices made by Canadians and others in conflicts around the world, and feel indebted to their memory.
Andy Jack, who spent 28 years in Canada’s air force and served in several countries, said he thinks about a plane shot down over Beirut, Lebanon in 1974.
Jack was supposed to have been on it too, but left Beirut the day before. "There were nine people on board and I knew every one of them," he said.
"We’re damn lucky to live in Canada."
Yona Rzepa, a retired schoolteacher from the former City of York had her own reasons to be grateful.
"My parents were Holocaust survivors, and these guys saved their lives," said Rzepa, explaining her mother and father were in different German concentration camps liberated by Allied soldiers near the end of Second World War. "It’s thanks to these guys, who sacrificed so much."
"How we got here was through the sacrifice of men and women of the" Canadian Forces, said Mike Magnaye, a second lieutenant in the Toronto Scottish Regiment. "You have to give that sense of appreciation"
Magnaye, who has been in the reserve regiment for six years, said each Remembrance Day has a special meaning for him.
He often thinks, he said, of friends serving overseas and of his family, including a great grandfather and grandfather who served in the U.S. military.
There was a flypast by Second World War-era Harvard training jets before the clock tower of the old municipal building struck the 11th hour, Cpl. Steve Abra of the 7th Toronto Regiment of Royal Canadian Artillery played the Last Post and the two minutes of national silence began.
Earlier, Andrew MacRae of Scarborough said he attends the ceremony in memory of his grandfather, who fought in the First World War and an aunt and four uncles who served during the Second World War.
One uncle, Andrew Cameron MacRae, never made it back – he flew a Lancaster bomber and was killed with his crew over the English Channel, he said.
Also in the crowd was a French officer, Lt. Colonel Roger Vandomme, with the French embassy in Ottawa.
Most battles of the First World Ward, which began a century ago, were on French soil, and the war turned the country "upside down," with large areas totally destroyed, he said. "There is only one thing to remember: Never Again."
Several other city councillors, MPs and senators were also watching at Old City Hall, as was Mayor-elect John Tory, who afterwards said spending a few minutes honouring the memory of the fallen is the least we can do.
Tory was asked what he’d say to Canadians who are anxious this Remembrance Day, following the attacks on Vincent and Cirillo and the deployment of Canadian soldiers to a combat mission in Iraq. "I’d say: Be hopeful. We have a country that respects the law, respects equal rights and it is free."