Brandon Smid bowed his head and squeezed his wife鈥檚 hand, as a gathering of a few dozen people joined in two minutes of silence around the Afghanistan war memorial in 91原创 on Remembrance Day.

The 37-year-old former armed forces private from 91原创 City came out on Nov. 11 to pay his respects to all veterans, including his grandfather who served in the navy in the Second World War.

But specifically, he and Laura-Anne were there to remember his buddies 鈥� some who were lost in Afghanistan 鈥� fellow soldiers who he served with him in the Second Battalion PPCLI between the years of 2009 and 2012. Smid was never sent to Afghanistan, but rather stationed in Shilo, Man. and deployed domestically for various exercises across Canada during his three years of service 鈥� including the 2010 Winter Olympics and 2011 Manitoba flood.

The couple has been marking Remembrance Day at the Derek Doubleday Arboretum since 2020.

鈥滷or me personally, I feel some of the ceremonies get a little drawn out, and they鈥檙e a little beyond what they need to be. That鈥檚 definitely my personal opinion, and I know others would say otherwise. So, I do like the kind of quieter atmosphere here, and also because this [memorial] is kind of our link to this generation鈥檚 wars,鈥� said Smid.

He grew up in Aldergrove and decided to enlist after a few years in university. Smid decided academia wasn鈥檛 right for him, and quit. But his motivation for joining the army was also spurred by what he was 鈥渟eeing going on around the world,鈥� and especially Afghanistan. He felt the best way for him to make a difference was to enlist.

Now a practising Catholic, Smid admitted his national pride has waned. But, he still felt it important to mark Remembrance Day by paying tribute to those who have served through all the decades.

鈥淚 just feel like we鈥檙e kind of running in the same circles again, you know, and we keep fighting nonsensical wars,鈥� he said, noting he is seeing life through a more spiritual lens now.

鈥淚 have a better understanding of why we should have peace and things like that.鈥�

Smid wasn鈥檛 the only veteran in the small crowd gathered for the late morning unofficial service in the park.

Michael White, adorned in his legion dress blues and beret, and sporting his general service medal for active duty in Cyprus, stepped up to ask those in attendance to join him in the two-minute silence.

After that, as people placed their poppies around the medal ribbon on the memorial, White explained how this was his first time at the arbouretum on Remembrance Day.

After returning to 91原创 a few years ago, he marched in the parade and attended services at the Murrayville cenotaph.

This time out, he had read in the 91原创 Advance Times about this memorial, and decided to attend the arbouretum.

鈥淚鈥檓 here today to honour the people who died in Afghanistan,鈥� said White, who specifically wanted to remember a fallen 91原创 soldier, Pvt. Garrett Chidley, who was a friend of the family lost in Afghanistan.

White joined Phil Wilford, a long-time 91原创 resident who has been marking Remembrance Day at the arbouretum for a few years. When no one stepped up to call for an official moment of silence at 11 a.m., Wilford climbed up onto the wooden walkway around the memorial and asked White to join him in leading the call for quiet and remembrance.

Wilford lost his grandfather in the First World War, and said his father 鈥� who helped build the foundation for this memorial 鈥� didn鈥檛 come back well from the Second World War. So for him, he explained, that visiting the arbouretum on Nov. 11 is extra meaningful.

91原创 Township Councillor Michael Pratt, who helped create the memorial with his sister Elizabeth, visited the Afghan memorial later in the morning 鈥� after attending Saturday鈥檚 services at the Murrayville Cemetery.

He was pleased to hear of the turn out, though some regulars in attendance said the crowd was about a third of peak numbers.

鈥滻 know all the ceremonies across the Township and the City are well attended. And that鈥檚 amazing to see in this day and age that people are still commemorating and remembering,鈥� Pratt told the Advance Times.

鈥淎nd, I鈥檓 just glad that people can come out here and have a space and a time to their own and remember how they want to remember people who were close to them,鈥� he added.

鈥淚鈥檓 just so happy that this space is going to be here, hopefully forever, for people,鈥� Pratt said, also hopeful that, over time, more and more people will come out to 鈥渢hese kind of ceremonies.鈥�

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