On this Remembrance Day, a local veteran is remembering his time in Afghanistan.
Former Windsor Police Constable and LaSalle Councillor, Mike Akpata, did a tour of duty in Kandahar City in 2007 with the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment.
He's urging everyone who can to pay their respects today and attend a Remembrance Day ceremony. "It's important. If you look right now we're coming up on the 100th anniversary of some of our First World War battles. From my regiment, the Essex and Kent Scottish, the Essex Scottish, it's coming up on 75-years since Dieppe. Veterans are growing older and are starting to pass. Sooner or later it'll only be us who've never experienced some of these Canadian historical events."
21 of his fellow soldiers were killed during Akpata's 2007 tour.
In all, 158 Canadians lost their lives while serving in Afghanistan.
Thinking of comrades on Remembrance Day. Stop pause and be thankful. There's a price been paid for our freedom. pic.twitter.com/v8Tf1ER91e
— Mike Akpata (@makpata) November 11, 2016
There are several Remembrance Day ceremonies taking place across Windsor-Essex this morning.
(Photo by Mike Carroccetto / Getty Images)
In Essex, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 201 will march from the Essex Legion Hall to Essex United Church starting at 9:45 am. A service at the cenotaph will be followed by a church service, with a return to the Legion at 11:30 am.
The Colchester-Harrow Legion Branch 338 will host the Annual Remembrance Day Parade and Service at 1:30pm with a parade from the Legion to the new Cenotaph at Harrow Veterans Memorial Park.
In LaSalle, a ceremony will be held from 11 am to 12 pm at the LaSalle Cenotaph outside Town Hall on Malden Rd.
The Windsor Remembrance Day Parade and Ceremony will feature the Royal Canadian Legion and 'HMCS Hunter' hosting a Remembrance Day Ceremony at 11am at the Cenotaph at City Hall Square. On Sunday a parade will be held beginning at 1:30 pm and leaving from Dieppe Gardens.