Dozens of families, veterans, cadets and members of the Canadian Armed Forces gathered at the God’s Acre Veterans Cemetery on Thursday (May 30) for a candlelight tribute to those who have and who are currently serving.
“Once again, tonight, we invite the youth of Canada, accompanied by men and women who have served our veterans to lay symbolic torches at the headstones of the fallen,” said Cliff Lecain, who served as master of ceremonies for the event.
The candlelight tribute originated in the Netherlands in the mid-1990s, he said, as a gesture of appreciation to the Canadian and allied servicemen who liberated Holland during the Second World War.
It was also commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force, which was granted the royal title on April 1, 1924.
Lecain said the cemetery contains the remains of 2,800 of those who served in the first and second world war.
“Through 156 years, God’s Acre Cemetery has been the final resting place of the men and women whose contribution to Esquimalt and Canada is immeasurable,” he said.
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