Military tradition lives on at St. Anne’s School, for teacher and student

Military tradition lives on at St. Anne’s School, for teacher and student
Austin Delves

CORNWALL, Ontario – Remembrance Day may be past, but at St. Anne’s School two individuals are continuing to hold a special place in their hearts for one veteran who is gone, and another still serving.

Austin Delves, a 13-year-old Grade 8 student honoured his late grandfather this week, by bringing the Canadian Navy veteran’s model warship to school for his classmates to see.

The model of the HMCS Sioux was a massive undertaking for Donat Mallete, who served aboard the ship during the Second World War. It stretches from arm to arm and includes every intricacy imaginable, including the Maple Leaf that flies above its deck.

The HMCS Sioux was a V class destroyer that also saw action in the Korean War.

Delves had always had his eye on the model. Shortly after his grandfather passed away this summer at age 93, Delves was presented with the ship.

He showed it off at the school this week.

“It was my inheritance,” he said with a smile, adding the ship raised eyebrows at the school. “It was very heartwarming to see. Ever since I was little I was asking to have that model.”

The sacrifices of a military life weren’t lost on St. Anne teacher Mary Miller, whose son Matthew, a serving master corporal in the Canadian army, has been deployed to Afghanistan four times.

He’s just 29 years old.

Miller said having a son in the forces, especially at this time of year, is special.

“Remembrance Day is always an emotional time for families in the military,” she said, adding there is special significance this year, following the recent attacks on Canadian soldiers here at home. “We were all affected by what happened in Ottawa (and Quebec).

“Our heart goes out to those families. But it’s their job. We have to accept that is part of the risk of their jobs.”

Share this article