Freedom of the City

Well, this Saturday I took part of the "Freedom of the City" parade in downtown Kingston. Over 1500 military members from the 30 different garrisons in the city took part. The parade was used to increase public awareness of the military presence in Kingston. The city hadn't seen a big parade like this in over a decade. The parade has it's roots dating back to the War of the Roses where armies had to ask the ruler's permission before entering walled cities. It wasn't best thing I had planned for a Saturday morning but it was quite interesting. Our contingent went to the HMCS Cataraqui and formed up with other units there. Once assembled, we marched about 2 km to City Hall and became part of an even larger unit. The Colonel there presented "1500 of his finest soldiers" to the mayor and we were granted the freedom of the city. Or something like that. I don't know if we were formally liberating the city or not, but it was quite a neat parade. It's not everyday that you get to be part of a massive force that marches on the roads stopping traffic and walking to the beat of the drum. I loved having an audience, even if I was soaked by the rain.
After the short speech (I love short speeches, at least you remember what they say) we marched back to the fieldhouse where the base cooks prepared a large buffet for all the members of the parade. It's nice to enjoy the simple things in life like having hot chili to with your buds to warm you up, while all of you are sitting in drenched trenchcoats. While we were there we were approached by a high ranking female officer. It turns out that she was the first female intelligence officer allowed in the forces. She told us about her enlistment and hardships she encountered because of her gender. It's neat to meet people who have reached a high standard of achievement after forging ahead through all the difficulties around them.
Anyways, back to apples. I have a lot of work ahead of me and never enough time to do it in.

Forging Ahead,


Michael U.

PS: the picture is me in my room after the parade. I asked April to take a picture since I was all wet. It is unfortunate that I wasn't able to take pictures of the parade, but rain does that to digital cameras.