CHAPTER 38

Original: 2010-12-8

Reposted: 2025-4-10

By the end of 2010, Lun had lived in the group home for nearly five years. We could focus on attending our younger son (son), and we were fortunate to participate in an important commemorative event, which was the battle in which Canadian soldiers liberated the Netherlands during the Normandy Landing in Europe in June 1944 at the end of World War II.

Ten months later, on April 7, 1945, the first Allied liberation force to enter Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, was the Seaforth Highlanders from British Columbia, Canada. My son joined the Seaforth Army Cadet Corps at the age of thirteen and was affiliated with this corps.

The Highland Regiment was founded on November 14, 1910, at the initiative of the Scottish community in Canada and with the approval of the Scots Regiment of the British Empire. It participated in World War I and World War II and had outstanding achievements, but at a high cost. During World War I, the Vancouver Regiment sent out 3,791 men, of whom only one-third returned alive.

For me, before my son joined the Army Cadet, this period of history that took place in Europe was purely a record in documents. I never thought that I would be connected with it in Canada.

Coincidentally, on November 27 this year (2010), the Corps will celebrate its 100th anniversary and will hold a marching and flag-changing ceremony. This is a grand event for the Corps and is of great significance to my son. He had been a cadet for five years, and would retire officially on his nineteenth birthday. In order to leave with precious memories, he strived for the qualification to participate.

After being accepted, starting from the end of October, for five consecutive weekends, my son trained in marching drill with members of the Army Cadet Corps from various towns in the Lower Mainland of Greater Vancouver, as well as regular soldiers from the Highland Regiment. He worked from 9 to 5 with a very serious attitude.

We both saw that he put in a lot of effort, while I provided my car and time to ensure that he arrived on time for the training. He was willing to devote five years to the cadet because he had watched Canadian wartime documentaries since he was a child and had developed respect for soldiers. He then joined the youth corps at the recommendation of a friendly classmate. He successfully lost weight in order to be able to wear a uniform. He went far away from home every year to attend summer camp, and most of the time, he did not miss the food and comfort at home.

His enthusiasm did fade and he was beginning to want to quit, but we insisted that he participate until the summer vacation and not give up halfway. We also asked him to make a decision before the new school year. After some reflection, he realized that he still had something worth cherishing, so he actively participated after school started, and it has been more than two years now.

Two nights before the Centennial Parade, I fixed his army hairstyle while he concentrated on sorting out his uniform and spent the next day and night in the military camp.

On the day of the ceremonial march, this shy young man wore a traditional Scottish kilt uniform, holding a rifle, and marched into the venue at the University of British Columbia with dignity, neat steps and strength, to be inspected by the Lieutenant Governor.

He participated in history, and because of him, we were suddenly connected with the history of the European War.