Students tell of Vimy 100 trip at KDSS Remembrance Day service

Four Kincardine District Secondary School students who travelled with their fellow students and staff to Vimy 100, back in April, offered highlights of the trip, at the KDSS Remembrance Day service, Friday morning at the school.

The service began with piper Nathan Smith marching in the Kincardine Legion Colour Party, Mike Dupuis, Adrian Green, John Farrell and Peggy Griffin, with Sergeant-at-Arms Irv Kennedy. Also attending the service, were veterans Jim McDonald, Keith Armstrong, Norman Blair, Keith Colley Sr., Jim Wade and Bill Zoppi, and Legion members Robert Fletcher and Mary Farrell.

Morgan Ritchie sang "O Canada," followed by bugler Ray Kester playing "The Last Post," two minutes of silence, Nathan playing "The Lament, and Kester playing "Reveille."

Keith Colley Jr. told the audience that the Legion and its members contribute a lot to area veterans and to the community and we thank them.

He said the community lost a great Kincardine champion and Second World War veteran, Charles Mann, in January of this year. "He served with the First Special Service Force, the Black Devils, as well as on municipal council. And he was a great friend of KDSS."

The audience gave a standing ovation in memory of Mann.

Principal Mark Ozorio said a group of students and staff travelled to France and Belgium in April, for the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge in the First World War. The group received support from the Kincardine and Ripley Legions for this trip.

Four students from that group gave some highlights of the Vimy 100 trip.

William Middelkamp said the group left April 5 for the 10-day tour of the Netherlands, France and Belgium. They saw many war memorials, and once they arrived at the Vimy Memorial, they were not prepared for the mammoth crowd.

Olivia DeJong said the Vimy Memorial is impressive from every angle, and the KDSS group managed to find a spot among the throng to watch the service. "It was an incredible crowd," she said, "and we listened to music and the reading of names on the monument."

There were about 10,000 Canadian high school students in attendance, she said. "It was an amazing and unforgettable experience."

Nathan Williams said fellow student, Maia Hinchberger, was interviewed by CBC and she is the first member of her family to visit the grave of her great-great-great-grandfather who died in the First World War.

The group visited the Passchendaele Memorial, and the St. Julien Memorial in Belgium.

Maia talked about seeing the Menin Gate which is an imposing sight, commemorating the thousands of soldiers who died but were never found. The RCMP Pipes and Drums conducts a ceremony every night at the Menin Gate.

The final two days were spent in Brussels, Belgium.

The group brought home two Vimy Oaks, to be planted in Victoria Park and at KDSS, April 9, 2018, after school.

KDSS is planning two more excursions to Europe. The first is "The Italian Campaign," during March Break, 2018, for students at KDSS and Saugeen District Secondary School in Port Elgin; and the second is the "75th Anniversary of the D-Day Invasion" in France, in June, 2019.

"It was a meaningful trip for all who went," said Maia. "We should never forget the sacrifices made by those who fought for our freedom."