Late Monday morning, thousands of Edmontonians joined countless other Canadians, as they attended a number of ceremonies throughout the city, taking time to remember and reflect on the sacrifices of Canadian soldiers.

Edmonton’s largest Remembrance Day ceremony was held at the Butterdome on the U of A campus – Premier Alison Redford and Mayor Don Iveson joined a number of other dignitaries and hundreds of members of the Canadian Forces, the Edmonton Police Service and the RCMP.

Many of those dignitaries, along with a number of civilians, laid wreaths at the cenotaph – including widow Amanda Anderson, whose husband, Jordan, died in Afghanistan in 2007.

“I never would’ve imagined back in 2002 when I attended with my husband that I would ever be standing here representing him and all the fallen families,” Anderson said.

For another military family in the crowd, they are waiting for their soldier to return from Afghanistan.

Jennifer Cormier’s husband is expected to return home by Christmas, and she’s excited that he will return, and is proud of the work he and other Canadian soldiers have done.

“What they’ve done for that country, and the improvements for education, and what they’ve done for families like us,” Cormier said.

A few months are left in the mission in Afghanistan, when it’s over 40,000 Canadian soldiers will have served in the country since 2001 – and 158 soldiers have died.

Remembrance Day at the Kingsway Legion

Another ceremony was held Monday at the Kingsway Legion, where a widow who lost her husband in Afghanistan also laid a wreath.

Rebeka Bulger-Kirwin’s husband, Nick Bulger, who was with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, in Afghanistan in 2009 – and with his death came Rebeka’s Memorial Cross, also known as the Silver Cross.

“It’s a cross that you never want to have,” Bulger-Kirwin said.

“If you wear this cross, someone you love, which would’ve been Nick, has died.”

On July 3, 2009, Nick and a number of other soldiers were travelling in Afghanistan when the vehicle they were in triggered an Improvised Explosive Device, or IED, near Kandahar City.

“He was an amazing man, absolutely amazing man, very, very well loved and very, very missed,” Bulger-Kirwin said.

On Remembrance Day, Bulger-Kirwin said she brings their two daughters to the Kingsway Legion – not only to honour her husband and their father, but to remember all soldiers, past and present.

Bulger-Kirwin joined hundreds of others at the ceremony.

Ceremonies held throughout Edmonton

Another, smaller ceremony was held at Rundle Park, where wooden crosses were lined up in the snow to honour the Canadian soldiers who died in Afghanistan.

That ceremony also took place at the Ainsworth Dyer Bridge – named for a solder with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry who was killed during a friendly-fire incident in Kandahar in 2002.

At City Hall, hundreds gathered as wreaths were laid at the cenotaph.

“So on this day of remembrance let us all pledge to never forget our past to pay tribute to those who gave their lives for freedom and work together to uphold the values they fought so very hard to preserve,” Mayor Don Iveson said.

In addition, hundreds more gathered at the Ice Palace at West Edmonton Mall to pay their respects – the Jasper Place Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion hosted the ceremony, as it does every year, and a number of service clubs and organizations were also in attendance.

As a sign of respect, stores at the mall did not open until noon Monday.

Services were also held across Canada, including Ottawa – where veterans stood alongside civilians, Governor General David Johnston and Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

A ceremony was also held overseas, in Kabul, Afghanistan – where Canadian Troops are training Afghan soldiers, a mission expected to end in March, 2014.

Over the years, more than 100,000 Canadian soldiers have died in battle.

With files from Sarah Richter and Susan Amerongen