By Mike Renzella
The Haldimand Press
DUNNVILLE—On Saturday, September 10, 2022 Flags of Remembrance will once again be unveiled at Wingfield Park in Dunnville, marking the second annual event in which a series of flags and plaques are mounted from September through to Remembrance Day in honour of veterans and first responders.
The event will kick off at around 1:30 p.m. and will include words from a variety of guest speakers, as well as three veteran pipe groups.
“This year’s dedication is going to homeless vets,” said event organizer and Veteran Services Officer for the Dunnville Legion Brent O’Connor. “That’s two words that should not be side by side in the English language.”
While Flags of Remembrance is not a Legion event, any extra monies collected through this year’s sponsorships will be donated directly to the Legion-backed ‘Leave The Streets Behind’ program.
“It’s a large problem,” said O’Connor of homeless veterans. “In the area and going from Milton to Niagara Falls and Hamilton there’s been over 150 found. There’s a lot more out there, it’s just a matter of finding them.”
He said that while the resources are there to help homeless vets, “there’s a lot of them that aren’t aware of what’s available to them. That is an issue. The Legions themselves are trying to make it more and more pronounced all the time. There are people who spend all day going out and looking for homeless vets…. When they find a homeless vet, they find lodging for them, set up with a bed, dishes, and whatever they need – it’s all taken care of that way.”
Flags of Remembrance raises money through sponsorship of a flag and plaque in honour of a living or deceased veteran or first responder. The first ceremony was held in 2014 by Al Cameron, founder and director of Veteran’s Voices of Canada. This year, the ceremony will be held in five locations across the country.
One unfortunate issue that plagued Dunnville’s inaugural display was theft and vandalism. O’Connor said, “On Remembrance Day night we had nine flags stolen, including the 158 flag, which was the Afghan flag with the 158 soldiers on it that lost their lives. To be stealing something like that, that flag would have no meaning to anyone but a veteran.”
O’Connor said he remains concerned about vandalism at this year’s display as well, but “we’ve been told we will have police presence throughout the nights, when they’re around town they will be out at the park.”
Additionally, O’Connor said that last year a number of citizens took up residence in the park at night to keep an eye on the flags after the initial vandalism reports came in last fall: “We didn’t even know who they were. They were anonymous.”
O’Connor said it was important to remember that the ceremony is also about honouring first responders, including police, firefighters, and EMS workers.
In addition to sponsoring a flag and plaque, citizens are also welcome to make a donation of any size toward the event. O’Connor said that such donations last year went toward veterans who couldn’t afford a sponsorship: “We took the donations we had and got them a sponsored flag and a plaque.”
He said that while last year the response was strong, it’s been more of a challenge finding sponsors this year: “We did pretty good last year; we didn’t have them all filled, but we did a good job…. If we can get some better sponsorship within the community that would be fantastic.”
He also emphasized that a sponsored plaque can be for any vet or first responder, past or present: “It doesn’t have to be someone who has passed, it can be in honour of someone still alive, and if they can, I want them to unveil their own flags.”
He continues in his efforts for one simple reason: a tireless desire to support our veterans and our first responders. He explained, “It’s the veterans who wrote a blank cheque by going out and serving our country to give us what we have today, and for our first responders it’s about what they’ve done in the past and what they’re doing today.”
Like last year, O’Connor said that any of the unsponsored flags left on the day of will be unveiled by civilian participants plucked from the crowd.
The cost for a sponsored flag and a personalized plaque is $250. If you would like to take part through sponsorship, contact O’Connor at 905-719-8506 or contact the Dunnville Legion at 905-774-5942.
And to the would-be vandals, O’Connor has no sympathy, stating that if anyone is caught doing the same again this year, charges will be laid: “It’s such a disgrace and dishonour to what this stands for.”
In closing, he offered advice to any homeless veterans out there who may need help: “Contact Command and they can hook a veteran up with the program, or any Legion branch can help them out. The funding is there.”
