Nearly 60 people gathered in front of the cenotaph in Memorial Park on Saturday morning to pay their respects to Cpl. Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent.
The ceremony was largely attended by veterans, most of whom didn’t know either of the men, but that didn’t matter, said Daivd MacKenzie said.
“Whether you’ver served directly with them or not, it feels like you’ve served with them," he said. "It’s blood. It’s a member of the family.”
The ceremony didn’t only take place in Winnipeg, but across the country. Veterans, cadets and members of the public went to their respective war memorials to pay their respects.
In Winnipeg, Steven Choquette, who was a friend of Vincents’ attended the ceremony. “I met Pat at my first posting in Comax, British Columbia," he said. "Pat was a giant of a man. He was a kind man. He was a good man.”
Choquette says Vincent saved the lives of many by wearing the uniform, but Canadian Armed Forces are now being told not to display their employment. New safety directives order soldiers to delete pictures on social media where they’re wearing a military uniform, adjust privacy settings on their and their family members profiles, and to not where their uniforms in public.
These orders come after a recent increase in reports of military personal and their family members receiving ‘friend requests’ on social media from people they don’t know.
