Photo/WES KELLER POPPY FUND CHAIRMAN Darrick Landry presents a bouquet to Remembrance banquet speaker Lavinia Kerr at the Orangeville Legion last Saturday night. Observance of the 90th anniversary of the Armistice that ended the "war to end all wars" might have taken a new meaning in Orangeville, as the local Legion's Remembrance Banquet heard of the "large disconnect between today's military and the civilian population" generally, but observances here demonstrated that "the gap has been bridged" in this area at least.

Lavinia Kerr, a 20-year Aerospace Control Operator veteran who retired from the air force at Cold Lake, AB, before returning to Orangeville as a journalism student and reporter for Orangeville Citizen, thence to a new career as an assistant to MPP Sylvia Jones, outlined a general decline in the public perception of Canada's military since the controversial unification of the armed services in the 1960s.

Yet she also pointed out that public awareness of the total role of the military has likely deteriorated as there are fewer Canadian families with a direct connection to the military than ever before in history.

"There are more Canadians today who have no one in their family serving in the military and perhaps it is for that reason the Canadian Forces is not in their daily thoughts.

"It is simply a matter of statistics. During World War II the military enlisted 1.1 million soldiers, sailors and airmen. The national population at the time was only 11 million. You'd be hard-pressed to find a single family who didn't have a serving member in some branch of service. Because of wartime service and enlistment, families had a personal vested interest in military life and what their loved-ones were doing.

"Today, Canada's population is over 33 million and there are only 62,000 active duty and 25,000 reservists currently serving.

"And, at any one time, there are approximately only 2,900 serving in missions around the world," she said.

In Orangeville, it might not seem that way. When emcee Rosie Elsdon called the role of combat veterans, several of the Second World War and of Korea stood. And there was one serving veteran of Afghanistan, Robert Ayre of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment.

There had been more than 70 serving members of Cpl. Matthew McCully's unit at the rededication of the Cenotaph two weeks earlier, and then there were several of his comrades at the Nov. 11 Remembrance and Sunset ceremonies.

Yet one has to wonder what currently serving members of the armed forces feel about the public perception of their role.

Sadly, they might not feel as welcomed in every community as they are in Orangeville.

Following the rededication, Master Corporal Tanya Boudreau of 2 CMBG in Petawawa jokingly wondered if the town would grow tried of seeing so many members of the unit.

"I must admit to a warm spot in my heart for (Orangeville and) the Orangeville Legion," she said.

That there could be the slightest hint that a community's welcome for serving members of the armed forces might wear thin —whether spoken in jest or not — might demonstrate Lavinia's point of "a disconnect."

But, yes Lavinia, there is a bridge over the gap, in Orangeville at least.