Veterans

Veteran Matthew Kane poses for a photograph in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday, November 4, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The Money: Today’s veterans fighting Ottawa for equality with previous generations

Campaign continues in fight for equity and fairness for all veterans

Veteran Matthew Kane poses for a photograph in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday, November 4, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Minister of Veterans Affairs Lawrence MacAulay uses his phone as he arrives for a cabinet meeting in Ottawa, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021. Tens of thousands of Canadian veterans who sustained long-term injuries from their military service are waiting to find out whether Veterans Affairs Canada will approve their disability claims. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

The Backlog: Thousands of veterans with disabilities are waiting years for support

Tens of thousands of veterans are waiting to see if their injuries qualify them for support

Minister of Veterans Affairs Lawrence MacAulay uses his phone as he arrives for a cabinet meeting in Ottawa, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021. Tens of thousands of Canadian veterans who sustained long-term injuries from their military service are waiting to find out whether Veterans Affairs Canada will approve their disability claims. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Canadian soldiers Benjamin Van Eck, left, and Dan Campbell are shown in Kandahar, Afghanistan in this 2007 handout image. While Campbell would eventually settle down to start a family, Van Eck struggled with drug addiction and homelessness after hanging up his uniform before his lifeless body was found on the streets of London, Ont., this past June. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Dan Campbell, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

The Streets: Ottawa faces calls to step up on veteran homelessness

Grassroots organizations have stepped in to feel in the gaps left by government services

Canadian soldiers Benjamin Van Eck, left, and Dan Campbell are shown in Kandahar, Afghanistan in this 2007 handout image. While Campbell would eventually settle down to start a family, Van Eck struggled with drug addiction and homelessness after hanging up his uniform before his lifeless body was found on the streets of London, Ont., this past June. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Dan Campbell, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
FILE – The Canadian flag flies at half-mast at the funeral for Lionel Desmond and his mother Brenda Desmond at St. Peter’s Church in Tracadie, N.S. on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017. Desmond killed his mother, wife and young daughter before taking his own life earlier in the month. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

The Caseload: Veterans Affairs staff overwhelmed by number of vets assigned to them

An internal review released in 2019 found case managers spent more time filling out paperwork than helping veterans directly

FILE – The Canadian flag flies at half-mast at the funeral for Lionel Desmond and his mother Brenda Desmond at St. Peter’s Church in Tracadie, N.S. on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017. Desmond killed his mother, wife and young daughter before taking his own life earlier in the month. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
Grade 11 Brookswood Secondary student Charlie Farquharson, 16, wrote and recorded a rap song for Remembrance Day last year as part of a Grade 10 class assignment. He did the entirety of the project from his home computer using software he was already familiar with, calling writing and recording music a hobby. (Special to Langley Advance Times)

Remembrance Day: Langley teen writes, records rap to bring historical event to forefront for youth

16-year-old Charlie Farquharson says youth should be engaged in different ways

Grade 11 Brookswood Secondary student Charlie Farquharson, 16, wrote and recorded a rap song for Remembrance Day last year as part of a Grade 10 class assignment. He did the entirety of the project from his home computer using software he was already familiar with, calling writing and recording music a hobby. (Special to Langley Advance Times)
A previous edition of Operation Raise a Flag is seen. Canadians across the country are once again invited to buy a flag to be planted outside the Sunnybrook Veterans Centre in Toronto this Remembrance Day. (Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre)

British Columbians invited to help plant 30,000 flags at Canada’s largest veteran facility

Toronto’s Sunnybrook Veterans Centre seeking nation-wide support to plant flags for Remembrance Day

A previous edition of Operation Raise a Flag is seen. Canadians across the country are once again invited to buy a flag to be planted outside the Sunnybrook Veterans Centre in Toronto this Remembrance Day. (Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre)
British Columbia Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin, Royal Canadian Legion BC and Yukon commander Angus Stanfield and Austin’s temporary aide-de-camp Glen Greenhill at Government House gather for the first poppy presentation, Oct. 26. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)

VIDEO: Lt. Gov. Janet Austin given first poppy of BC/Yukon Legion’s 100th remembrance campaign

Poppies will be available by donation through various organizations across Canada as of Oct. 29

British Columbia Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin, Royal Canadian Legion BC and Yukon commander Angus Stanfield and Austin’s temporary aide-de-camp Glen Greenhill at Government House gather for the first poppy presentation, Oct. 26. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)
Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin, Royal Canadian Legion BC and Yukon commander Angus Stanfield and temporary aide-de-camp to the Lt.-Gov. Glen Greenhill at Rockland Avenue’s Government House, Oct. 26. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)

VIDEO: First pin presented as Legion kicks off 100th poppy campaign

Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin presented the first poppy of BC and Yukon Legion’s remembrance fundraiser

Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin, Royal Canadian Legion BC and Yukon commander Angus Stanfield and temporary aide-de-camp to the Lt.-Gov. Glen Greenhill at Rockland Avenue’s Government House, Oct. 26. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)
Dick Deck and son Brian go through some of his documents from the Second World War, when he was a bomb aimer in an aircraft that was shot down over Germany. (Dan Ferguson/Langley Advance Times)

VIDEO: South Langley man who survived being shot down during Second World War turns 100

Dick Deck parachuted to safety, and a prison camp

Dick Deck and son Brian go through some of his documents from the Second World War, when he was a bomb aimer in an aircraft that was shot down over Germany. (Dan Ferguson/Langley Advance Times)
Langley resident John Swityk of the Regina Rifles listens, as French consul-general Jean-Christophe Fleury thanks him for freeing his country. In 2015, Swityk was presented with the French Legion of Honour award, that country’s highest award, as part of a decision by the French government to honour all living Canadian soldiers who fought during D-Day to help liberate France and defeat Nazi Germany. (Langley Advance Times file)

One of Langley’s last surviving Second World War veterans is turning 100

One of the first soldiers to land on Juno Beach on D-Day, John Swityk insists he’s not a hero

Langley resident John Swityk of the Regina Rifles listens, as French consul-general Jean-Christophe Fleury thanks him for freeing his country. In 2015, Swityk was presented with the French Legion of Honour award, that country’s highest award, as part of a decision by the French government to honour all living Canadian soldiers who fought during D-Day to help liberate France and defeat Nazi Germany. (Langley Advance Times file)
A Canadian soldier keeps a close watch as one of his men investigates a suspicious device near a road between two of Canada’s bases in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, June 2, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel

Taliban victories prompt fresh questions, soul searching for Canadian veterans

Veterans, some still in uniform, have taken to social media in recent days to express their pain and sadness

A Canadian soldier keeps a close watch as one of his men investigates a suspicious device near a road between two of Canada’s bases in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, June 2, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel
Volunteers work on a past year’s poppy fund activities at the Trafalgar/Pro Patria Legion on Gorge Road in Victoria. The provincial government announced $1.5 million in one-time funding for B.C. and Yukon legions on June 2 to help them stay open through the remainder of the pandemic. (Black Press Media file photo)

B.C. government announces $1.5 million in pandemic relief for struggling Legion branches

Property tax exemption is what Legions really need, Victoria branch president says

Volunteers work on a past year’s poppy fund activities at the Trafalgar/Pro Patria Legion on Gorge Road in Victoria. The provincial government announced $1.5 million in one-time funding for B.C. and Yukon legions on June 2 to help them stay open through the remainder of the pandemic. (Black Press Media file photo)
Langley-Aldergrove MP Tako van Popta will be at a ceremony marking 70 years since Canadian soldiers fought at the Battle of Kapyong, held at the Gapyeong Memorial in Langley’s Derek Doubleday Arboretum on Friday, April 16. (Special to the Langley Advance Times)

Langley battle memorial marks 70 years since pivotal clash in Korean War

The Gapyeong Memorial will host a small, private ceremony this Friday

Langley-Aldergrove MP Tako van Popta will be at a ceremony marking 70 years since Canadian soldiers fought at the Battle of Kapyong, held at the Gapyeong Memorial in Langley’s Derek Doubleday Arboretum on Friday, April 16. (Special to the Langley Advance Times)
Cloverdale-Langley City MP Tamara Jansen (top L) and Yorkton-Melville MP Cathay Wagantal, the Conservative party veterans affairs shadow minister (bottom L), will be featured speakers at a virtual town hall on Saturday, April 3, organized by a group of students at École Salish Secondary School, with moderators Joanne Park and Dario F. (Top) and Joon Sohn and Seline Luc (bottom) (Special to Langley Advance Times)

Cloverdale-Langley City MP to take part in virtual town hall on veterans affairs

Student group to host event on Saturday, April 3

Cloverdale-Langley City MP Tamara Jansen (top L) and Yorkton-Melville MP Cathay Wagantal, the Conservative party veterans affairs shadow minister (bottom L), will be featured speakers at a virtual town hall on Saturday, April 3, organized by a group of students at École Salish Secondary School, with moderators Joanne Park and Dario F. (Top) and Joon Sohn and Seline Luc (bottom) (Special to Langley Advance Times)
Victor Osborne, 102, of Nanaimo, who was born during the Spanish flu pandemic and took part in an influenza A vaccine trial while in the Royal Navy in 1934, will get his first COVID-19 vaccine dose on Monday, March 15. (News Bulletin file photo)

102-year-old B.C. veteran born during our last pandemic books his COVID-19 shot

Victor Osborne is no stranger to new vaccines

Victor Osborne, 102, of Nanaimo, who was born during the Spanish flu pandemic and took part in an influenza A vaccine trial while in the Royal Navy in 1934, will get his first COVID-19 vaccine dose on Monday, March 15. (News Bulletin file photo)
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LETTER: It was a different way of remembering in Aldergrove

Share how you marked Remembrance Day 2020

  • Nov 12, 2020
Send your letter to the editor via email to <a href="mailto:editor@langleyadvancetimes.com"><strong>editor@langleyadvancetimes.com</strong></a>. Please included your first and last name, address, and phone number.
Murrayville’s John Swityk had to pay his respects to his fallen comrades from D-Day, as well as all the other soldiers – past and present – who have sacrifices. Despite most Remembrance Day ceremonies being cancelled, the 99-year-old Langley man insisted on visiting the Langley cenotaph today (Nov. 11, 2020). (TaraLee Richards/Special to Langley Advance Times)

Cancelled services didn’t stop knighted soldier, 99, from paying respects

John Swityk was at Langley’s cenotaph before many awoke Nov. 11, to safely honour his fallen friends

Murrayville’s John Swityk had to pay his respects to his fallen comrades from D-Day, as well as all the other soldiers – past and present – who have sacrifices. Despite most Remembrance Day ceremonies being cancelled, the 99-year-old Langley man insisted on visiting the Langley cenotaph today (Nov. 11, 2020). (TaraLee Richards/Special to Langley Advance Times)
The Downtown Langley Business Association honours veterans by displaying images of those who served ahead of Remembrance Day each year. (Joti Grewal/Langley Advance Times)

PHOTOS: 35 veterans honoured for Remembrance Day with DLBA initiative

Four veteran names are not known, can you identify them?

The Downtown Langley Business Association honours veterans by displaying images of those who served ahead of Remembrance Day each year. (Joti Grewal/Langley Advance Times)
Heather Maling and crash researcher Radovan Zivanovic searching for small pieces from the crash site where Officer Henry Carruthers, of Trail, was killed in the Second World War. Photo: Submitted

Remembering a young man from Trail who went to war and never came home

Henry Carruthers is buried in the Belgrade War Cemetery in Serbia.

Heather Maling and crash researcher Radovan Zivanovic searching for small pieces from the crash site where Officer Henry Carruthers, of Trail, was killed in the Second World War. Photo: Submitted
A poppy is projected on the side of the Peace Tower in Ottawa, Monday, Nov. 9, 2020. On the eve of Remembrance Day, the federal Liberal government is moving ahead with plans to provide emergency assistance to veterans organizations that have been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

VIDEO: Legion, other veterans groups to get $20M to weather COVID-19

Legion dominion president Tom Irvine welcomed the new funding as a long time coming

A poppy is projected on the side of the Peace Tower in Ottawa, Monday, Nov. 9, 2020. On the eve of Remembrance Day, the federal Liberal government is moving ahead with plans to provide emergency assistance to veterans organizations that have been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
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