Private Tyler Todd

Wednesday April 21, 2010 

It was a beautiful day in Southern Ontario today, a great day for a drive through the rolling hills and flatlands that make up a section of our great Province.

Scattered throughout the countryside every 10 miles or so you find small hamlets, villages and small towns, all steeped in history, some no more than just a crossroad with a stop sign and a scattering of houses, and others with a few business’s that employ most of the town folk and make up a good part of the character of that place that they call home.

Today I went to the small town of Plattsville, which is between Woodstock and Kitchener, a place I have driven through many times over the years, but never an end destination like it was meant to be today.

When I was coming into Town, I noticed all the yellow ribbons tied around trees, and on peoples houses as well, it actually even started at the towns before Plattsville, I noticed the first ribbons in Washington as I was heading down 97.

Canadian Flags where flying proudly, standing straight out as they where being driven by a strong westerly wind today, there is never a prouder moment than seeing our flag flapping loudly by the wind, showing her true colours to everyone passing by.

I thought it would be a good time to cue up ” Canadian Heroes” on the cd player, music can set the tone and the feeling at times, and this time was no different.

I also thought it might be nice to get my video camera out, its a rare sight to see the outpouring of love and emotion from people, something even as simple as a yellow ribbon or the flying of our Countries flag started to carry a different meaning today, I am sure everyone whom came down the road felt the same way.

As I rolled into town, I could see the roadblock ahead, it became apparent that the Church where the service was being held was on the main street heading right through town, which is common for small towns, as when they where originally founded, they all started with just 1 road and then built from there over the years.

As I made my way through the town via the side streets I parked almost right infront of the church and the song came to an end right as I was parking the car.

It was beautiful, surreal and eerie all at the same time.

As I made my way to the church, the service just started and hundreds of people lined the main street and filled the churches parking lot and we listened to the service over loudspeakers outside.

As I looked around the town, it was nice to see the tributes to Tyler everywhere, its the little things that people remember for years to come, I am sure the families appreciated everything that people did today.

I took pictures today, which was very unusual for me, as since my military career started back when I was 11 years old in cadets, I have attended probably a 100 parades and services, with different duties as I progressed in age, but always being a part of the service, and hardly ever as a civilian.

I am glad I brought my camera, for it will forever record the moment in history, and I hope that at some time people that where close to Tyler will remember him through these pictures that I took, for I intend to share with the town where he grew up the snapshots of respect from today.

http://www.canadianheroes.com/

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