This morning, our elementary division held our special Remembrance Day Service. The service started with the singing of our national anthem, O Canada.
This was followed by the showing of a short video called Letters Home, produced by the British Royal Navy. It shared the story of Tom, a sailor from the Royal Navy 63rd Division during the First World War, writing his letter home. It’s a very personal account of the front line, addressed to his sister.
The somber tone of the film led to the reading of a Remembrance Day poem, the playing of The Last Post and a moment of silence. One of our Grade 5 students then read the passage from John 15:10-13, in which Jesus shares that there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Our guest speaker this morning was Retired Corporal, Mark Castillo, courtesy of The Memory Project – a volunteer speakers’ bureau that arranges for veterans and Canadian Forces members to share their stories of military service at school and community events across the country. Mr. Castillo was a former frontline infantryman, deployed to Afghanistan in 2010. In all, he served for 6.5 years in the Canadian Armed Forces. He shared some photos from his deployment as well as other aspects of his career, including a photo of when he was a Ceremonial Guard, wearing a bearskin hat. After his presentation, the students sang ” Make Me A Servant”, a song about service to others, using Jesus as our example.
Shortly afterwards, representatives from each grade came forward to ask Mr. Castillo some prepared questions. During this Q&A session, we learned that Mr. Castillo was inspired to join the military as a way to give back to Canada, which became their home after he and his family emigrated from the Philippines. He also shared that two valuable skills that he learned during his time of service were teamwork and the importance of integrity – doing the right thing, even when no one is watching. When asked about lessons or messages that he wants to pass along to the younger generation, he simply said, “We need to honour veterans everyday, not just on Remembrance Day. We also need to be good Canadian citizens. Don’t take it for granted. No one wants peace more than a soldier. Be a good Canadian, and be a good human being…”
After the formal Q&A session, the floor was opened up for 5 more questions before the service was concluded with the singing of “Amazing Grace” and a prayer from Mr. Bailey.
