A ceremony at Esquimalt’s Memorial Park on Wednesday to mark National Peacekeepers’ Day will include a flyby featuring a Royal Canadian Air Force CC-130H Hercules.
The aircraft, from 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron in Comox, will make a low-altitude pass between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. It will fly at least 500 feet above what is determined to be the highest obstacle on its route.
There will be two short road closures in the area between 6:30 p.m and 8:30 p.m., one on Admirals Road and one on Esquimalt Road, for the 31st annual Peacekeepers’ Memorial Parade being held in conjunction with the ceremony.
The activities are held in remembrance of veterans, Canadian Armed Forces personnel, police and civilians who have served in peace support.
“We are not only remembering those who have died in operations,” said Paul Paone, a retired army lieutenant colonel. “We also remember those whose experiences are complicit in their subsequent death, or whose service was cut short regardless of the cause, no matter their mission at home or abroad.”
Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor will be in attendance and will unveil a commemorative poster. She will be joined by Maritime Forces Pacific Chief of Staff Capt. Peter Sproule, municipal representatives and others.
Dignitaries will each place a poppy in a wreath at the park’s cenotaph.
Organizers said that 2023 marks the 75th anniversary of the first United Nations peacekeepers — the 1948 UN Truce Supervision Organization overseeing the armistice between Israel and neighbouring Arab states.
It is also the 35th anniversary of the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to UN peacekeepers.
B.C. was the first province to declare a memorial day for peacekeepers, and it became a national occasion in 2008.
Local events to mark the day are organized by the B.C. chapter of the Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association, in co-operation with CFB Esquimalt.
