William H.A. “Billy” Willbond MSM, CD
George Dobson lays wreath on behalf of CAVUNPBLUE JACKETS ON PARADE
‘Twas 1030 at the Legion – the lads were all formed up
As I sipped Tim Horton’s Coffee from a leaky paper cup
My thoughts went back to Cyprus as I listened to the talk
Heading to the Cenotaph on that two block walk
The lads talked of Mark Isfeld and they mentioned P.J. Hoare
They spoke about Peacekeeper dead in each new bloody war
There were 15 new blue jackets plus 20 more blue berets
Who stood listening to the Padre, saying prayers of praise
Our MP, Doctor Martin placed a Governmental Wreath
After a while came Captain Kyle and others followed Keith
The MC from the Legion, called CAVUNP by name
George Dobson from our Chapter to the Cenotaph he came
The film crew from with CTV’s Director Robert Osborne
They were there, in weather fair, on this November morn
To capture ICROSS blue berets who load our med supplies
Dick and Tim, Linda and Jim and Chink and the other guys !
They had been in Nairobi and filmed Lew laying a wreath
And now here in Esquimalt they filmed the tears of grief
the MC called, for the wreath, for each silver cross Mom
the murmurs went silent, all talk ceased, the huge crowd, it went calm!
©Copyright November 11, 2004 by Billy Willbond
A member of the vigil stands guard
Girl Guides from Raven District lay wreath at the Esquimalt Cenotaph
Piper Steven Drinkwater plays the Lament at the Esquimalt Cenotaph
- Mark Isfeld and PJ Hoare are peacekeepers who died on PK missions (2 of 119)
- ICROSS: International Community for the Relief of Starvation and Suffering
- CAVUNP: Canadian Association of Veterans in UN Peacekeeping
- CTV: Canadian Television
- Doctor Martin: Dr. Keith Martin, Member of Parliament for Esquimalt Juan de Fuca – an active supporter of ICROSS Canada
- Captain Kyle: Commander of CFB Esqujimalt
- George Dobson: President of the Mark Isfeld Chapter of CAVUNP
- Robert Osborne: Senior Field Director for CTV’s W-5
- Dick: Dick Nimmo, ICROSS Canada volunteer worker
- Linda: Linda Dobson, ICROSS Canada volunteer worker
- Tim: Tim Doyle, ICROSS Canada volunteer worker
- Jim: Jim Sidel, ICROSS Canada volunteer worker
- Chink: Ed Widenmaier, ICROSS Canada volunteer worker
- Lew: Lew MacKenzie, Patron of ICROSS Canada