2006, Nov 27, Corporal Albert Storm CD, 1RCR, Afghanistan

Recent and older memories
Posted By WAYNE CAMPBELL , TRIBUNE STAFF
Posted -36 sec ago

Remembrance Day ceremonies at Pelham Veterans Park mixed recent and older memories.

Among legion members, cadets, political leaders and military units laying wreaths was the wife of a Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan earlier this year.

Mishelle Brown, wearing her Silver Cross, pinned a poppy to a wreath for her husband Warrant Officer Dennis Brown as she placed it in front of the cenotaph at Royal Canadian Legion Branch 613 in Fonthill.

The park committee recently sold a second round of name bricks for the park. The paving bricks are engraved with veterans and sponsor names.

Among them, the committee added seven bricks for Canadian soldiers who served in Afghanistan.

Three are for Niagara soldiers -- Cpl. Albert Storm, Cpl. Tyler Crooks and Brown -- all who died in Afghanistan.

Families of the three soldiers were invited to Wednesday's Remembrance service along with families of those who bought bricks.

Mishelle Brown said this was the first time she saw the brick and appreciated the thoughtfulness of the gesture.

"It shows Dennis will not be forgotten nor the other fine soldiers whose names are on these bricks," she said standing near them in the park.

She said she liked the legion's Remembrance Day ceremony.

"It was small and quaint," compared to the other ceremonies she was at during the past few days.

She attended a Queen's Park Remembrance service in Toronto, a morning one at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton and was going to another at a legion hall in St. Catharines after leaving Fonthill.

Dennis Brown, 38, of St. Catharines, who was an army reservist with the Lincoln and Welland Regiment and a special constable with the Niagara Regional Police, in March was killed by a roadside bomb along with Cpl. Dany Fortin and Cpl. Kenneth O'Quinn.

Cpl. Crooks, 24, of Port Colborne, was one of four people killed by a roadside bomb in a separate incident in March.

Cpl. Storm, 36, born in Niagara Falls and raised in Fort Erie, died in 2006 when a suicide bomber drove into the side of his personnel carrier.

Hundreds of people surrounded Pelham Veterans Park for the remembrance ceremony. Traffic on Regional Rd. 20 slowed down. And two heritage warplanes flew over the park at about 11 a. m.

The ceremony included legion members and veterans, 613 Lincoln and Welland Regiment Army Cadets, members of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment, police officers, fire-fighters and families of those who recently bought name bricks for the park.

Legion branch president Don Cotter acted as master of ceremonies. He praised the veterans park committee for "a job well done" in creating and enhancing the park.

Rev. Russ Myers of Fonthill Baptist Church and chaplain for the legion branch led the prayer. After the ceremony he said he becomes more emotional during the ceremonies as he becomes more familiar with the people and the experiences they represent.

Last Post was played by Katie Lewis while piper James Carnegie played the lament and Amazing Grace.

St. Catharines MP Rick Dykstra, representing Niagara West-Glanbrook MPP Tim Hudak, said it's worth remembering Canadians who fought and died went as volunteers.

"Their sacrifice not only helped win wars but gave us the peace we have today,"

Pelham regional Coun. Brian Baty, a former high school principal, read a poem, The Man We Never Knew, written by a student as a tribute to a veteran.

"Let us thank God for the man we never knew," he said.

Mayor Dave Augustyn said "how fitting we stand on bricks that bear their names as we stand on what they won."

He asked that their names "be engraved on our minds and on our hearts."

Marge Davis of the Branch 613 ladies auxiliary gave a patriotic reading. Legion member Gerry Berkhout sang In Flanders Field.

Second World War veteran Jim Summersides, as part of the legion's school visitation group, received a plaque from Pelham schools for his work with them. He presented a similar plaque to veteran Bud Ker who was unable to attend ceremonies held earlier at a school.

As part of the Remembrance Day events, Second World War veterans were taking up a collection for the Kanadhar Coffee Fund. They send the donations to the Royal Canadian Legion's Morale Fund, which is used to assist soldiers in Afghanistan.

Among morale boosters are free coffee and doughnuts from Tim Hortons.

Co-ordinator Doug Elliott said the three-year-old Branch 613 Kandahar Coffee project has raised $2,000 annually.

"I've heard back from soldiers in Afghanistan who said they appreciate the support from people back home," said the Second World War veteran who served in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

"What can be more Canadian than a cup of coffee and a doughnut from Tim Hortons?" he asked.

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