The sacrifice for freedom and for democracy has not come to an end.
That was one of the thoughtful reflections retired Major and Chaplain Greg Costen shared with the standing room only crowd inside Gretna Elementary School's gym Monday morning during Rhineland Municipality's annual Remembrance Day service. Costen joined the forces in 2003 at the age of 43, and served for seventeen years. Prior to that, he had been a clergyperson his entire professional life.
"I grew up in a family that did not do Remembrance Day, family-wise, church-wise," Costen shared prior to the service. "Not for any reasons of opposition, it just was not on their radar. I spent my first 25, 30, 35 years (where) soldiers, Remembrance Day, poppies, nothing. In my last church in central Alberta there was a retired Navy fellow as one of our parishioners, and he pulled me aside one day and said, 'Greg, there's this role of military chaplain. I'm not sure if you're familiar with it, but I think you'd be good at it.' So, that was it. I put my name in the hat, and it takes a year or so to get through the process and enrolled in 2003."
That first Remembrance Day experience
Costen admits, coming from a background where Remembrance Day wasn't top of mind, and enlisting in the Canadian Armed Forces, was a significant change.
"In the military, as we'll see today, Remembrance Day is kind of holy and sacred,: he shared. "It's like the Eucharist in a church, so that was not my tradition, as I mentioned. When I got into the military, I think at basic training even, and you go to your very first Remembrance Day service, which was in Ottawa for me, it was a big, big, big deal."
That experience brought several thoughts to mind that day.
"One was the military takes this very seriously, they're not fooling around here," Costen said. "There was also, at that point, a certain sense of pride of now I'm part of this establishment, and can join the ranks of those who serve, but more importantly join the ranks of those who can remember those who gave their lives."
Reflecting on the fallen of the past and today
Costen's message covered several points, including the importance of remembering the soldiers who gave their lives in service of our country.
"The fallen soldiers we remember are not exclusively those from the black and white, grainy films from 85 and 100 years ago," he explained. "There are soldiers today who give their lives."
That beginning led to Costen sharing a story of being stationed at C.F.B. Gagetown in New Brunswick, when the base's battle group went to Afghanistan, and he was tasked with staying behind as the rear party Chaplain. His role was to ensure the spouses of the deployed were doing okay, but also to deliver the death notifications when soldiers were killed.
"When you do that a number of times, sitting in living rooms with wives and children, and telling them daddy's not coming home again, or when you're on a ramp ceremony on the runway in Trenton, and you're huddled with a inconsolable family at the back of a hearse, you start to learn a few things, and namely this question of sacrifice, we remember today, is ongoing," he reflected.
Another point Costen shared was how the ultimate sacrifice made by a solider, also ends up being the sacrifice of many people.
"When a soldier sacrifices themselves, there's also a spouse that sacrifices and children sacrifice and their neighbourhood and their church community and their fellow troops who came home, they're all sacrificing," he explained. "The ripple when a soldier gives his life spreads, and in my role as a Chaplain I regularly and sadly became acutely aware of that."
What does Remembrance Day mean to him?
And on the simple question of what does Remembrance Day mean to him, Costen shared this.
"It has to be, for me, every year entirely about fallen soldiers," he said. "It's not about politicians. It's not about any of that stuff. It's not about speeches from local authorities. It's entirely about the fallen soldiers. For me, I work hard on Remembrance Day to remember our fallen, but for me it's become, hopefully, almost a daily thing of thought and gratitude and recall of all that's been brought for us because of our troops."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Major (ret.) Greg Costen, below.
Meanwhile, District Commander for Legions in Manitoba Chief Warrant Officer (ret’d) Phil Otis spoke at the Morden Legion Branch #11 banquet Sunday night on the 103rd anniversary of the Remembrance Poppy. He praised the work of the Morden Legion for its size and hard work.
“When I think of Remembrance Day, I remember many, many things that happened to me within my career. The reason that I am a Legion member is to give back to the people that helped me while I was in the air force. I've seen a lot of things. You were extremely lucky to be in a country where democracy is in this place. What I like to do is remind you people about the poppy. The poppy is symbolic. It is symbolic to all of us and the matter of peace and what it means is ‘remember.’ It's not about war and think of the veterans that supported your country and died for.”
He emphasized the importance of taking time on the 11th hour of the 11th day to pause for a moment of silence to remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we have today.
“Don't forget, there's always always going to be a veteran. We don't all die. There are always veterans. You people do not realize how close you are right now as I speak today to another war. Especially out of Korea and what's happening in Ukraine. So we'll have those people, they will stand for you and for Canada and I salute them all and I salute you.”
Many Legion members enjoyed a good meal and took time to visit and remember together. A special touch to the evenings meal was place mats with pictures of each veteran from the banners that line the streets of Morden on them. Many were finding their family member(s) and friends and taking time to share their stories with one another.
Below you will find photos from the Rhineland, Carman and Morden Remembrance Day services, as well as the Morden Legion banquet Sunday night.
- With files from Robyn Wiebe -
