Emotional veterans visit in Guelph, Ont. sparks tears, memories and understanding

What does it really mean to fight for your country? CTV’s Ashley Bacon finds out.

An unlikely moment unfolded at a school in Guelph, Ont. as veterans from past conflicts stopped by to share stories of sacrifice and heroism.

Lynda Gilham attended Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School alongside her father, William Seifried, who enlisted as a teenager with the Canadian military during the Second World War.

“They didn’t know what they were really getting into,” Gilham said. “Somebody who joins the military today has a better understanding of it. My dad grew up on a farm. They didn’t have a car, they had never traveled anywhere. There he is, off by sea to London and then over to France.”

Seifried, who is now 100-years-old, has only recently started opening up about his experience during the war.

“It’s important to share his story now. Until my dad was 90, we never knew one thing about his service,” Gilham explained.

She also spoke to students about her father’s arrival in the Belgium city of Antwerp in June 1944. Antwerp, which was one of the largest surviving ports in Western Europe at the time, was considered a key strategic location and its liberation by Allied forces was a key point in the war.

As Gilham shared her father’s story, another veteran in the room, Rifleman Jacques De Winter rose to his feet, emotion colouring his face. When he was able the speak into the microphone, he revealed the two shared an unexpected connection.

“His daughter mentioned that he was there in 1944 in June,” De Winter said. “I was born July 22, 1944 in Antwerp – that’s where he was fighting.”

He grasped Seifried’s hand and shared a heartfelt thanks on behalf of all the people who had been living in the city at the time, including his then-pregnant mother.

Living history

Students listened in rapt silence as the veterans shared stories from the Second World War and up to the conflict in Afghanistan.

“It’s one thing to just hear about it through my teacher and read about it in textbooks,” Sophia Trussell, a Grade 10 student, said. “But actually seeing the people who made it feel a whole lot more real. It lets me reflect more on my remembrance.”

The teenagers also got a better understanding of how women served their country.

“They need to know what’s going on in the world,” Elaine Pettigrew, a Canadian Women’s Army Corps veteran, said. “They need to be prepared for that. It’s a tough life out there right now for a lot of them. I’m hoping a lot of the women will join up because there’s so much more they can do.”

Some of the younger generation left the visit with a new perspective on the meaning of sacrifice.

“A lot of them mentioned that they got their youth taken away from them. I think that’s truly brave of them,” Kylie Moyer, a Grade 10 student, reflected.

CTV News Kitchener has posted a list of some of planned Remembrance Day ceremonies. A livestream of Kitchener’s Remembrance Day Ceremony, at the cenotaph on Duke Street, will also be available.