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As Remembrance Day approaches, many Canadians wear poppies to honour veterans and current members of the armed forces, to commemorate Canada's involvement in various armed conflicts, and perhaps to remember family members who were killed during military service. The Royal Canadian Legion runs the poppy drives each year and many branches continue to host Remembrance Day services each November 11th.

I have attended these services all my life. Many of my family members served in the armed forces during World War I and World War II. The Remembrance Day service was particularly important to my grandfather, who was a member of the Legion for several decades following his service in WWII. He passed away twenty-five years ago, but my family continues to attend our local service and to lay a wreath in his memory.

At last year's service, I was struck by how well attended it was by people of all ages. I saw little children there and remembered myself attending these services as a young child, understanding the great solemnity of the occasion, but not fully comprehending the reasons behind it. When I was young, there were still several veterans who sat at the front of the hall. Last year, the Radville Legion branch had only three surviving veterans. I wondered how children these days connect with events that are increasingly receding to the past. We talk of freedom and sacrifice in Remembrance Day services, and we repeat the names of those who were killed in conflicts as long as a century ago. As the world changes, and these "wars to end all wars" become further removed from us in time, how are these issues still relevant for people today?

My sister and I joined the Legion as associate members a couple years ago. Last year I decided that my contribution to our local branch would be to record video interviews with our three remaining veterans: Leonard Anderson, who served in the Royal Canadian Air Force in post WWII Germany; Alphonse Fossenier, who served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Korean War; and Stewart Scott, who served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II.

Editing this Canada 150 living heritage video was especially challenging. All three of the interviews were more than an hour long and contained a wealth of fascinating stories and recollections. How could I possibly narrow that down to the 5-8 minute parameters of these Canada 150 videos? In the end, I decided to focus on the beginnings and the aftermaths of these three men's experiences. How and why did they "join up" in the first place? How have their experiences stayed with them ever since? In essence, their memories are not just interesting anecdotes from significant historical events. They are personal, they are real, and they remain with them to this day. In that sense, these events live on through the people who experienced it firsthand. They are our living link with the events we commemorate every November, and as we lose more and more of them with each passing year, so do we lose that living heritage.

Since I recorded these interviews in January, 2017, Mr. Alphonse Fossenier has passed away.