Remembrance Day on Nov. 11 saw ceremonies around the country to honour the soldiers who fought for Canada.
It was an especially important day for Canadians who are members of the armed forces. This includes a significant number of Carleton students, many of whom are in regular or reserve forces.
“I wouldn’t know any hard statistics” said Forces member Spencer Turner, “but I was in a course last summer [at a training centre in] in Meaford, and after the Royal Canadian Military College, Carleton had the second highest amount of people in that course.”
Turner is a third-year economics major at Carleton, who is also in training as an officer cadet.
As it was for all Canadian Forces members, he said this Nov. 11 was an important day for him.
“For this year’s Remembrance Day I got in uniform and went downtown and watched the ceremonies there – but in previous years I have actually taken part,” Turner said. “I used to be in the reserves in high school and during Remembrance Day I was actually a radio [operator] so basically I took care of the audio and the electronics of [the ceremony]”.
Turner said the forces are a part of his family legacy.
“My dad was in the infantry reserve back in the ’70s, his dad was a public affairs officer in the air force,” Turner said.
But the history goes back further than that. Turner explained that relatives of his had served, and died in France as far back as World War I.
He also said a few great uncles in the navy during World War II, and a great grandfather who was a sergeant in the infantry.
Turner said he plans to become an officer. He said that his university degree is “a check in the box” on his way there, and that Carleton as a school was a good choice because of its proximity to the defence headquarters and its programs.
“Obviously it’s a good job, a good career path, it gives [me] a pretty good sense of structure, a pretty good sense of discipline,” he said.
Naval Combat Information Operator Kortni Watson said the Canadian Forces are also family tradition.
“My grandfather was in the Scottish navy and my uncle was in the Royal Canadian Air Force,” she said. “He was a World War II vet. So was my grandfather.”
Watson’s father is currently in the navy as well, serving on the ground at a base in British Columbia.
She is a first-year communications student working at the Naval Reserve unit Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Carleton.
Watson said her schoolwork and navy work are not overwhelming to handle.
“I go in [to training] every other Tuesday night . . . if I have schoolwork they accommodate that,” she said.
Being part of the navy means a significant bursary for students, but Watson explained that this comes with an obligation.
Watson said she hopes to use her communications degree to become a naval public affairs officer but for now her goal is to spend the summer working on a navy ship.
Watson spent Remembrance Day as a part of the parade and paid her respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
“It’s important to remember those who come before us,” Watson said.
“It’s not for everyone” said air force pilot Jake Brown of the choice to enlist in the army. “When you join the military it is a serious commitment.”
Brown, who is currently part of a regular officer training program said the choice has never been a regret.
He said his army career has been about one main thing – flying.
Unlike Turner and Watson, Brown does not come from a military family. “It was . . . the pilot side of things that influenced me,” Brown said. “I always wanted to fly.”
This goal has already become a reality for Brown who occasionally goes to the Ottawa Airport to practice aerobatic flying on a Grob G-115 plane.
Brown, a first-year computer science student, is completing his degree to achieve his goal of eventually becoming an officer in the air force.
Like Turner and Watson, Brown explained that much of his training takes place in the summer, and doesn’t interfere with his education.
“I go back and forth [to headquarters] between classes sometimes when there’s paperwork,” he said, “but [it’s] nothing too crazy.”
Brown credits his education and career opportunities to the funding and support he receives from the Canadian Forces.
“Without the military I wouldn’t be able to go to university – I probably wouldn’t be able to fly much either,” he said.
Like Watson he also said that this opportunity comes with responsibilities.
“Our job is to come to class – we have legal obligations to be here,” he said.
He also had a different sort of obligation this Remembrance Day – Brown said he spent the morning at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with other members of his training group.
He said as members of the armed forces, it was integral for them “to partake in the ceremony itself, just to be there . . . just to go pay our respects.”
