The Cenotaph at the Legion’s Fairview Branch in Halifax is adorned with wreaths placed during a commemoration of the Persian Gulf War. [Corporal Gregory Cole/CAF]

Halifax hosts Persian Gulf 35 commemorations

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

Retired major Bob Crane doesn’t demand a thank you for donning the Canadian military uniform. Nevertheless, observed the Persian Gulf War veteran from Siksika Nation in Alberta, “gratitude is the one thing that we all appreciate when we do something for other people.”

Crane, a former member of 1 Canadian Field Hospital, spoke of the broader service that he and more than 5,000 comrades provided as part of a 35-country coalition force, spearheaded by the United States, to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation after the latter’s Aug. 1-2, 1990, invasion. He remembered, too, the desert, the dust—and, of course, the heat.

It was a far cry from conditions in Halifax Feb. 25-March 1, 2026, where those same comrades, encountering a brisk Maritime breeze, gathered to mark 35 years since the end of the conflict. Notwithstanding a blanket of long-settled snow, however, clear skies afforded a sizable delegation of Persian Gulf War veterans—Crane among them—the chance to participate in several commemorative events.

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[Yevgeny Khaldei/Shawshots/Alamy/RBYNRE]

History repeats

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

There are two certainties in war: death and suffering. Flag-raisings might be another.

Flags declare victory, as Red Army troops did (below) in raising the Hammer and Sickle over the Reichstag in Berlin on May 2, 1945. The flag, originally symbolizing the alliance of workers and peasants, was used in the Second World War as a sign of resistance against Nazism. This staged and altered photograph was composed at the request of Soviet premier Josef Stalin in the wake of the famous Joe Rosenthal photo of American Marines raising the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima, Japan, a few months previous. Like the Iwo Jima flag-raising (which was not staged), the Hammer and Sickle picture was used as propaganda, to send a message, inspire and reassure soldiers and the populace at large that the good fight was being fought—and won.

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Defence Chief General Jennie Carignan addresses The Royal Canadian Legion’s Dominion Executive Council in April 2025. [Aaron Kylie/LM]

Defence Chief General Jennie Carignan on the state of Canada’s military

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

General Jennie Carignan has an idea of how she went from aspiring dancer to military recruit to Canada’s defence chief. “In a nutshell, I would say it’s the diversity of experiences, the diversity of positions and types of missions, and layered on top of that, education to be prepared for different situations.”

Born in Asbestos (now Val-des-Sources), Que., Carignan enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces in 1986. “I basically left home to join the military at 17 years old,” she said, having been raised in a family with a history of service. Whether such realities ultimately influenced her career trajectory, however, is less certain to her.

“I probably didn’t pay much attention to my [police officer] father’s lifestyle, but I do remember, of course, the uniform, the weapon, the sense of authority, and the importance of his role within our community. Maybe unconsciously, this was part of my decision process to join the military.”

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