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November 11th is Every day for me

Heroes Remember

November 11th is Every day for me

Transcript
November 11th used to be a happy day. You know what, November 11th 1999 was when I got to my regiment. That’s when I joined the Regular Forces. So it used to be happy, I used to love going to see the old Veteran guys and having drinks with them and listen to them talk. And then it became so real for me after my deployments that I had people I know that never came back, I had friends that never came back. So for me Remembrance Day I don’t go to the parades I go to a friend’s grave and we sit and have a drink. I tell my kid’s stories. I will sit there with him for a couple of hours. I have a flag with a lot of guys that I know in my unit that were killed. I have their pictures on my flag. It’s our unit flag and I never took it here with me because I didn’t think I would be sitting in this chair but this flag goes everywhere I go. Very fortunate to do the things I do with like Soldier On, Invictus and True Patriot Love foundation so this flag goes everywhere I go and I take it out and I show everyone that these are my friends. These guys were killed so that we can do what we’re doing and I don’t want you to forget them. I have ran the Army Run in Ottawa with the flag. I went to Nepal just a few months ago in April. We went mountain climbing. We went to Mount Everest. I carried the flag over there. I have pictures of the flag taken with Peter Hillary, Sir Edmund Hillary’s son on top of Kalibatar Mountain which is over 5000 metres, Lhotse Mountain which is over 6000 metres. Remembrance Day is every day for me. It’s not just one day. So that flag has been everywhere with me. Everywhere I go I take it with me so that’s how I remember but on the day itself that’s what I do, you can find me sitting at Jimmy’s grave and we just chat.
Description

A very inspirational and personal reflection in the meaning of remembrance is shared by Mr. MacEachern.

Brian MacEachern

Mr. Brian MacEachern was born August 2, 1975 in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. With his father being a reserve soldier for over 30 years, Mr. MacEachern knew his own destiny at a very young age. Joining the reserves with the Combat Engineers division, he later specialized in combat diving and ordinance disposal. Throughout his military career Mr. MacEachern was part of the Swiss Air recovery mission and credits this exercise as being his reasons for continuing to serve in the Canadian military. In 2004 Mr. MacEachern accepted a deployment to Ethiopia and later that year travelled to Afghanistan and again in 2007 holding rank of sergeant with Combat Engineers. After being released from the military, Mr. MacEachern accepted support through Soldier On and in 2016 became a member of Team Canada Invictus Games travelling to Orlando, Florida as part of the cycling team. Mr. MacEachern continues to stay involved in the sport and now resides in Nova Scotia with his family.

Meta Data
Medium:
Video
Owner:
Veterans Affairs Canada
Recorded:
July 25, 2018
Duration:
2:15
Person Interviewed:
Brian MacEachern
War, Conflict or Mission:
Canadian Armed Forces
Location/Theatre:
Canada
Battle/Campaign:
Afghanistan
Branch:
Army
Rank:
Sergeant
Occupation:
Combat Engineer

Copyright / Permission to Reproduce

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