Two Canadian military veterans will be keeping their tradition alive, standing guard at the Cobble Hill Cenotaph on Sunday, October 22.
It’s something that James Baird and Robert Collins have done every year since 2014, in honour of the Canadian service men and women who have lost their lives on Canadian soil. Next year marks the ten year anniversary of the attacks causing the deaths of two Canadian soldiers within 30 hours, MWO Patrice Vincent and Cpl Nathan Cirillo, which spurred the inaugural vigil at the cenotaph.
“We started for them,” says Baird. “But since then we’ve had honour boards up for all military people that have passed in the previous year we’ve also deliberately added in all those we’ve lost to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).”
Baird says he hopes to de-stigmatize the memory of those who lost their with mental health after serving with a special board and over 200 candles – one per life lost.
“Unfortunately because it’s still called the ‘coward’s way out,’ most families are embarrassed to reveal the name of their son or daughter that lost their battle,” he says.
Baird, now in his mid-60s, is many years removed from his ten years of service in the Canadian Navy. He’s had his struggles with mental health and hopes that others dealing with that from military service will be willing to seek support.
“I was able to get the help I needed. I still have my moments, but I now know how to deal with it,” he says. “They need to be requiring that [veterans seek help], not offering it. Until they do, we’re going to be losing many, many more.”
Baird says there are complications in other branches of the military that stop some service men and women from getting the help that they need, which need to be sorted out.
“A very good friend of mine is one of the people on that board,” he says. “He was in the intelligence branch, when he returned from Afghanistan and started suffering from the effects [of mental health].
“Because he was intelligence, he would walk into his appointment with a military psych. He would stop for a moment and say, ‘What’s your security clearance?’ The doctor would tell him and then he would turn around and walk out. The military did not and does not have a single psychiatrist or psychologist that they have given sufficient security clearance for an intelligence branch person.”
Since the two began this tradition, he says the community support has been tremendous. That includes attention from local NDP MP Alistair MacGregor, who put forth legislation in the House of Commons to formally mark October 22 as Peacetime Service and Sacrifice Memorial Day. MacGregor had introduced the bill in the previous government, but it had been wiped clean due to the election in 2021. He reintroduced the bill on May 18, 2023, where it received its first reading.
If you’d like to show your support, you can visit them at the Cobble Hill Cenotaph from Sunday morning, through Monday.
