It was a cold and blustery morning in Morinville last Sunday when the army came to town. The 1 Service Battalion was an eye-catching sight as it paraded down the empty 100 Avenue three abreast, rifles swinging.
Standing in their path was RCMP Staff Sgt. Mac Richards. "What unit goes there?" he cried.
"One Service Battalion!" replied their leader, Lt.-Col. Krista Brodie.
"Step forward and be recognized!"
This would have been a scene of high drama back in Roman times, with local residents huddled indoors in case of a military coup. But since a coup wasn't in the cards, Morinville was in a celebratory mood.
Some 200 people, almost all from the Edmonton Garrison, came out to greet the troops as they received the prestigious Freedom of the City award from Mayor Lloyd Bertschi. The event was held in celebration of the town's centennial.
Keys to the city
Freedom of the city events date back to ancient Rome where the sight of armed troops in town made people fear for their rights, Brodie said. Giving troops permission to come into town with their weapons was considered the highest honour a town could give to a unit.
The ceremony itself involved Brodie knocking three times on the door to the town hall with her sword. Bertschi then opened the door, read a formal declaration and presented Brodie with a symbolic key to the city. Then, with a clatter like a thousand tin cans, the 110 soldiers on parade fixed their bayonets, shouldered their rifles and marched down 100 Avenue as the band played on.
Val Weir stopped her car to take pictures as the troops passed in front of her on 102 Street. "It was breathtaking," she said of the parade, smiling. "It kind of brings everything back home that we need our military as part of our community."
Residents then gathered at the Community Cultural Centre for free food, a Kiddy Commando obstacle course and a display of military hardware.
About a third of the battalion's 1,000 members now live in Morinville, said Brodie, and this event will further strengthen their ties to the community. "It's truly a once-in-a-generation type event."
Bertschi said he felt privileged to take part in the event, which left him at a loss for words. "I was supposed to say a few words, but I was so in awe that I was nervous I wouldn't be able to say anything."
9/11 plus 10
The event coincided with the 10th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center.
Bertschi recalled working at his home business that day. "My wife called me at about 8:30 [a.m.] and said, 'There's planes running into the towers in New York.'" He spent the rest of the day glued to the television news. "It was just an incredible day."
Sgt.-Maj. Doug Petti, who took part in the parade, said he had a similar reaction when he heard the news at the garrison. "When I got up there [to the TV room], the second airplane had just crashed into the twin towers. Then we knew it was a terrorist attack without a doubt." A few months later the brigade was deployed to Afghanistan.
About 2,000 soldiers from the brigade have since served in Afghanistan, Brodie said. About 300 are there now.
9/11 has had a tremendous impact on soldiers and Canada, Petti said. Soldiers are now greatly respected in Canada, and he gets regular requests for handshakes while in uniform. But it also lead to the deaths of many soldiers, ones he had to deal with as the manager of the ramp ceremonies at Kandahar Airfield. To this day, he still gets nervous about potential ambushes on lonely stretches of road in Alberta.
That's what made last Sunday the perfect day for this event, he said. "The Canadian Forces can't do anything without public support."
