(Y95 News photo)
The Yarmouth and Wedgeport Legions will be holding a Remembrance service at the Yarmouth Cenotaph to commemorate “National Peacekeepers Day”.
The service is this Friday (Aug. 9) beginning at 3 p.m.
Branch 155 Wedgeport Legion member and veteran Andre Boudreau explains why National Peacekeepers Day is held on August 9 in Canada.
“That was a day that we lost the most Canadian Peacekeepers in any operation which was in Egypt 1974. Also in 1974, we lost two Peacekeepers in Cyprus, so we lost a total of 11 soldiers that year in Peacekeeping operations.”
He says anyone who has served on a United Nations mission, other veterans and the public are welcome to attend.
According to Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC), a national ceremony is held each year in Ottawa at the Peacekeeping Monument on the Sunday closest to August 9. It is organized by the local chapter of the Canadian Association of Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping, the Canadian Armed Forces, Veterans Affairs Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
More than 125,000 Canadian peacekeepers have participated in dozens of international efforts over the past six decades in countries all over the world. (VAC)
