Royal Canadian Legion honours veterans from Brockville, Ont.
For the third consecutive year, the Royal Canadian Legion of Brockville, Ont. is honouring soldiers who were from the region ahead of Remembrance Day.
Hundreds of banners reading “We honour those who served” with pictures of men who served in the First World War and the Second World War, Korea, Afghanistan, and more are hung on lamp posts lining King Street in downtown Brockville.
The Legion saw the program being implemented in other rural communities in eastern Ontario and thought it would be a great way to honour soldiers from the Brockville area too.
The banners are purchased by families who had a relative that served in the military that they want to honour ahead of Remembrance Day, and each year the project has grown in scale.
"As soon as the banners went up, we did get a very positive response from the community," said Paul Hodgert, the co-chair of the Brockville Legion.
In 2022, there were 45 banners in total. Last year, that number rose to 183. This year, it's up to 221.
"We're looking at what we can do for 2025 and we're watching our space very, very carefully," Hodgert told CTV News with a laugh.
Brockville resident Jim Grimes honoured his father, Jim Grimes Sr., with a banner for the first time this year. He served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War.
"We were really quite taken with it," Grimes said when describing the feeling of seeing his father's banner.
Grimes added that he's used to honouring his father on November 11, but having the opportunity to do it in the weeks leading up to Remembrance Day has been a nice change.
"Families are always stopping, reading names, moving on to the next, reading names, and before you know it, you're reading names of a lot of people you know," he concluded.
Hodgert added that Brockville has a rich history with the military, dating back further than The First World War.
In the war of 1812, military commander Sir Isaac Brock led the defence of Upper Canada, which is why the city is known as Brockville to this day.
"Since then, the military history in this city and area has been quite significant," Hodgert said.
"One of the banners that was up this year, and several from last year, dated back to men from Brockville who served in the Boer War in 1899."
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