Cemetery service remembers the fallen

By Dale Woodard on November 12, 2021.

For Ryan Ribeiro and Matthew McHugh, it was a chance to honour fallen soldiers as well as their own flesh and blood.
It was also a chance to carry on a proud family tradition and honour a special centennial as well.
In honour of Remembrance Day, a special reduced ceremony was held at the Mountain View Cemetery as a small, masked crowd gathered in front of the Immortal Flame at the entrance of the cemetery to remember the fallen as well commemorate the 100th anniversary of the poppy
“Remembrance Day is remembering those who have come before us,” said Ribeiro, a gunner for the 20th Independent Field Battery with the Royal Canadian Artillery in Lethbridge. “It really comes close for me. My great grandpa fought in World War II and my great-great grandpa fought in World War I. My grandpa served and my brother was also in and so am I. So it’s a family thing and it’s remembering all of those who came before us and not letting their legacy die.
“It’s a great honour to be a part of the armed forces. It’s absolutely the best job I’ve ever had. You get some great friendships through this and friendships you’ll never forget.”
McHugh emceed Thursday’s ceremony.
After the playing of O’Canada, McHugh spoke of the 100th anniversary of the poppy among other topics.
After a playing of the Last Post by Tom Wilson, two minutes of silence was observed while Geoffrey Brayne performed a flyby in his Harvard Mark IV training aircraft off in the distance over the Remembrance Day ceremony taking place at the Cenotaph at City Hall.
Following the playing of the lament, Wilson performed the Reveille, which was followed by God Save The Queen.
“It’s definitely an honour to be the emcee for an event like this,” said McHugh. “I think it’s important for our community of southern Alberta and Lethbridge and our community of Canada to come together on Remembrance Day to remember not only the First and Second World Wars, but also all of the other wars that have taken place since then (as well as) wars Canada wasn’t involved in, but war in general in terms of the sense the poppy represents a day of remembrance for conflict around the world.”
McHugh said it’s amazing the poppy is celebrating 100 years of remembrance.
“It’s something all of us should be very proud of in Canada and the Commonwealth and everybody who takes the time to remember on Nov. 11. It’s very special, as a member of the military, that people are remembering our fallen and as somebody who had two grandfathers who served in the Second World War and family that served in the First World War.”
Reflecting on his family members and all the soldiers, McHugh said it’s important to remember they were just ordinary people. 
“Especially in the First and Second World Wars. In Lethbridge our unit is a reserve unit and it’s made of citizen soldiers. So soldiers who are working a civilian job in any trade. Then they are also, on the side, in the military as well.”
McHugh said there’s a strong tradition of that in Lethbridge, including the Legion’s namesake.
“General Stewart, who the Legion branch is named after, was a dentist who served in the First World War. I think it’s important that these were men and women, brothers and sisters, dad, uncles, aunts and grandmothers that went over and participated in these major conflicts in the First and Second World Wars and the other conflicts we’ve had.”
Celebrating its centennial, Ribeiro said the poppy represents the blood of the fallen.
“It doesn’t matter the race, creed or religion. It’s universal for absolutely everyone and that speaks to how our army is. We have so many different people from all different backgrounds within our army.”
McHugh noted the importance of Thursday’s ceremony in front of the Immortal Flame at Mountain View Cemetery.
“This is the final resting place for a lot of our soldiers who may have died in the First or Second World Wars or survived a conflict,” he said. “So to be here with them today is very important. I also think one of the reasons for the ceremony here today is to shine a light on the fact these fields of honour are here at Mountainview Cemetery and to let people know there four lots of fields of honour that people can come and pay their respects, not just on Remembrance Day, but any day for our fallen soldiers.”

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