President leads Remembrance Day tributes

poppyGeorgetown: The world celebrated Remembrance Day -also known as Poppy Day or Armistice Day today with two minutes of silence dedicated to the First and Second World Wars’ victims and other fallen soldiers during major conflicts.

In Guyana, President Donald Ramotar led the country’s Remembrance Day tributes, by laying a wreath this morning at the foot of Cenotaph Monument in Georgetown.

He was followed by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Chief- of -Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, Commissioner of Police, Leader of the Opposition, President of the Guyana Legion, the Mayor of Georgetown and the Heads of Mission of the Diplomatic Corps, a representative of the Guyana ex-Soldiers’ Benevolent Association and an ex- GDF Association of Guyana.

 “On this Sunday of Remembrance Day we meet again to remember all those gallant men and women who gave their lives in two world wars. We are forever indebted to them for their supreme sacrifice in the cause of peace and freedom.

We also recall with gratitude those who, through the years, have made similar personal sacrifices in the continuing struggle for human dignity, social justice and freedom from all forms of oppression, wherever these exist,” President Ramotar said in his Remembrance Day statement.

He urged that the example of the fallen soldiers should strengthen the country’s and the world’s  resolve to maintain  efforts for world peace.

 “On this solemn occasion we the citizens of the Republic of Guyana, re-dedicate ourselves to the search for peace everywhere, and renew our commitment to the development and well-being of our beloved country.”

There were prayers by the three main religious groups. The ceremony was marked as well with a March Past at the corner of Main and New Market streets, where the President was given a military salute.

The Cenotaph is a war memorial and a national memorial to Guyanese soldiers who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars. Guyanese soldiers served and fought in such far off places as Egypt, France, Belgium, and East Africa.

After the end of the Second World War in 1945, Armistice Day was renamed Remembrance Day or Remembrance Sunday, and observed on the first or second Sunday of November. Since 1956, it was internationally agreed to observe Remembrance Day on the second Sunday of November.

The poppies worn by persons who participate in the Remembrance Day observances are part of the Poppy Appeal launched annually to ensure that those who made the supreme sacrifice in the two Great Wars, 1914 to 1918 and 1939 to 1945 are remembered.

The commemoration date November 11 marks the signing of the Armistice at the end of World War 1.

In Guyana, Remembrance Day is observed on the closest Sunday to November 11 – usually the second Sunday. The day is marked by parades in Georgetown, New Amsterdam, Vreed-en-Hoop, Linden, Anna Regina, Bartica, Lethem and other towns around the country.

After the parade at the Cenotaph in Georgetown, the British and Canadian High Commissioners and the General Secretary of the Guyana Legion laid wreaths in the Military Cemetery at Eve Leary. This was followed by a reception at the Legion’s Headquarters, Coghlan House.