There was added poignancy to Thursday’s Remembrance Day ceremony at the Timmins Cenotaph. As it ended, 34-year-old retired army Cpl. Samuel Boulet laid his military jacket and beret among the wreaths.
He was in the service from 2006 to 2012 and served as an army mechanic for five months in Afghanistan in 2011. He’s not sure why, but says he finally made time to attend his first Remembrance Day ceremony since then.
“It’s just a feeling I had as something I had to,” Cpl. Boulet comments. “And even just putting my jacket on today was not something I would have wanted to do, just out of not wanting to draw attention to myself.”
Boulet says his jacket and beret are his wreath that he laid for all people. He attributes it to “divine order”, as the ceremony and atmosphere around it were very intense.
“You know when you have a really big cry about something?” he asks in way of explanation. “The lessons you learn that’s in those tears, you get a good, hard look at the reality of what’s happening right in front of you.”