{"id":13395,"date":"2011-11-09T09:34:33","date_gmt":"2011-11-09T14:34:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=13395"},"modified":"2011-11-09T09:57:56","modified_gmt":"2011-11-09T14:57:56","slug":"take-the-time-to-commemorate-remembrance-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2011\/11\/take-the-time-to-commemorate-remembrance-day\/","title":{"rendered":"“Take the time” to commemorate Remembrance Day"},"content":{"rendered":"
\""Take

"Take the time," says Larry Minor when it comes to remembering veterans on Remembrance Day. Minor had a career in the air force and his son is in Afghanistan.<\/p><\/div>\n

It was a tense, heart-stopping moment in Larry Minor\u2019s house when he and his wife learned that a Canadian soldier had been killed in Afghanistan in October.<\/p>\n

Minor\u2019s son, Michael, is on his second tour there. As a colonel in the Canadian Forces, he is one of the personnel responsible for training the Afghan army.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were glued to the TV watching for news,\u201d Minor said. \u201cWe worried because we heard it was from the training unit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fortunately, Minor\u2019s son was OK. But Minor, a part-time Campus Security<\/a> guard, knows a thing or two about what it\u2019s like to serve his country.<\/p>\n

Minor is one of a small handful of Campus Security officers who have spent time in the service. Minor, who works night shifts patrolling the campus, spent 36 years in the Royal Canadian Air Force.<\/p>\n

The Wainfleet native had a love of airplanes that dated back to childhood, when Harvard planes would fly low over his family farm. \u201cI had seven aunts,\u201d he said, \u201cso I think they were interested in taking a look.\u201d<\/p>\n

He joined the air force in 1954 when he was 17 years old. He spent much of his career working with theNorth American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), serving at small radar bases from Colorado to Thunder Bay. His first transfer was to a base on the north end of Vancouver Island in 1955, where one of his more memorable experiences occurred. His crew picked up blips on the radar that looked like aircraft traveling 1,200 knots \u2013 faster than anything could travel at that time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought we\u2019d picked up UFOs,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was the only explanation we could think of for why it was traveling that fast.\u201d In the end, it was sunspots.<\/p>\n

Minor retired about 20 years ago as a chief warrant officer, but like most former military members, it will never leave his blood. When he meets military personnel past or present, there\u2019s instant camaraderie.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see the same thing with fire fighters and police officers. It\u2019s a brotherhood,\u201d he said. \u201cI was an only child. I like to say I joined the air force to have a second family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minor gets the same feeling now working in Campus Security. In fact, when he arrived at Brock 20 years ago, he saw parallels. The recreation centre reminded him of the air force. Residence reminded him of barracks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought \u2018Boy, have I found the perfect retirement job,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it has been. I love the kids. They keep me young after all these years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though Minor served during peacetime, Remembrance Day strikes a deep chord in him. Every Nov. 11, he attends the service in his hometown of Port Colborne. When he can\u2019t do that, \u201cI take time out to myself to reflect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minor fears younger generations losing their sense of history \u2013 not only our military history, but our country\u2019s history in general. Remembrance Day is an important reminder of it, he said. His message to the Brock community \u2013 \u201cTake the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for his son, part of him always remains on guard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always worried, and we\u2019re going to be worried until he comes home.\u201d<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

Brock\u2019s Remembrance Day ceremony<\/strong>
\nWhen:<\/strong> 10:50 a.m. Nov. 11
\nWhere:<\/strong> Ian Beddis Gymnasium
\nWhat:<\/strong> Aboriginal drumming, readings from sacred text and a wreath laying ceremony<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Larry Minor, who served 36 years in the air force, encourages people to take a moment on Remembrance Day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,1],"tags":[100,135],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13395"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13395"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13403,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13395\/revisions\/13403"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}