Legacy of Latino war heroes remembered
November 16, 2022 - Royal Canadian Navy
By Peter Mallett
Caption
David Aguilar Carranza (left) representing the Canadian Guatemalan Community. Ana Mariah Salas Beard (right) representing the Canadian Dominican community. Both of them represent the Guatemalan Centre Culturel Ix Bam and Human Rights Organization Escalando Montañas. They gave a plaque to Captain Rey Garcia-Salas for the research about the participation of the Latin Americans defending Canada in the First and Second World War. They presented this plaque on 17 Oct at Beechwood National Cemetery in the First Latín American Remembrance Ceremony.
Caption
On 17 Oct at Beechwood National Cemetery on the First Ever Latin American Remembrance Ceremony. From left to right: Mexican Consul Juan Gabriel Morales, Mrs Mogollon Guatemalan Cultural Attache in Montreal, Danilo Velasquez, Brigadier General St Louise, Tito Medina, Captain Rey Garcia-Salas, Claudia Irina Sánchez, Ana Mariah Salas Beard.
Unsung Latin American heroes of the First and Second World Wars were recently honoured by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), giving them long overdue historical identity and recognition.
“They all joined voluntarily, demonstrated compassion, braveness, courage and loyalty while fighting alongside other Canadian soldiers,” said Captain (Capt) Rey Garcia-Salas, co-founder of the CAF Latin American Heritage Team. “All these soldiers are heroes who left us a legacy of inclusion that now brings us closer together.”
Organized by the CAF Latin American Heritage Team in Ottawa, Toronto and Esquimalt, B.C., the ceremonies honoured approximately 120 soldiers who travelled to Canada specifically to enlist and fight in the First and Second World Wars, Capt Garcia-Salas explained.
“Their legacy is largely unknown but needs to be recognized,” he said.
This year’s three Remembrance ceremonies coincided with the CAF’s Latin American Heritage Month, marked in October. The Esquimalt Remembrance ceremony was held at God’s Acre Veterans Cemetery on October 17.
Sailor First Class (S1) Ivan Vanegas Lopez, the Esquimalt ceremony organizer, said he wants to boost attendance next year and make the act of Remembrance an annual event at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt.
“This is our first ever ceremony. I wish more had attended, but this is just a starting point and one to build on for the future,” said S1 Vanegas.
S1 Vanegas was born in Colombia and moved to Canada in 2007 with his wife and three children. Two of his children are now CAF members: Sub-Lieutenant Sebastian Vanegas, a Naval Warfare Officer with the Royal Canadian Navy, and S1 Susana Vanegas, a naval reservist working as a Human Resources Administrator.
The ceremony was equally important to S1 Jose Quintero, who was born in Mexico City and moved to Canada in 2002. He is a stoker serving in His Majesty’s Canadian Ship Saskatoon.
“It’s time to recognize the people who fought for our freedoms and human rights so many years ago, and fought alongside Canadians to make the world a better place,” he said.
Along with the ceremony in Esquimalt, inaugural Latin American First and Second World War Remembrance ceremonies were held at Ottawa’s Beechwood Cemetery on October 17 and at Toronto’s Saint Monica Parish and Mount Hope Cemetery on October 22.
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