MEDICINE HAT, AB – Chinook Village in Medicine Hat has put together a Remembrance Day display for residents in the facility’s sky-walk.
It features veterans currently living at Chinook Village.
And the spouses of present residents who have passed away.
Doug Heine is one of the six veterans featured. He served for 22 years in the military, most within Canada.
He was with the South Alberta Light Horse and commanded the regimen for four years from 1958-1962.
Heine has been part of the planning committee for Remembrance Day services at Chinook Village since he has lived there for the last 15 years.
He says Remembrance Day is very important to him and has attended services from a young age.
October last year, he had the privilege of attending battlefield tours in Europe put on by the Regimental Association.
He says it was a very moving experience and one he cherishes.
“We visited many cemeteries in Europe and that really brought home to me what Remembrance day is all about and the cost of the freedoms that we enjoy.”
During his travels, Heine also had the opportunity to speak to many of the residents there who were involved in the time of liberation and to hear their stories and what that meant to them.
He says this it was very moving.
“Another thing that struck me was talking to the children, how appreciative they are of the Canadian operations of liberation. They’re taught it at school, but they also get it around the kitchen table from their parents and grandparents and how appreciative the children are of Canadians and what they did to liberate their country,” Heine said.
Chaplin of Chinook Village Lance Duncalfe says this display is one way to draw us in to remember.
“We remind ourselves of what was invested in and what has become the identity of our country. We as Canada are quite different than the United States and other countries. We are a peace-loving, peace maintaining nation and I think the identity of our country comes through when we sit and reflect upon why we are the way we are, and the investment of our veterans in this country,” Duncalfe added.
Chinook Village will also have a small-scale Remembrance Day service for residents.
