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Touching note left on Lower Mainland veteran’s windshield

A veteran is hoping the writers of a note know how much he was touched by their kind words.
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Lloyd Reynard came out from having brunch with friends on Remembrance Day to find a note on his vehicle.

The Langley man who had served in the navy had attended services at the Murrayville cenotaph then met with friends to break bread.

A simple card in an envelope ended up making this former navy radar spotter choke up.

When he saw something tucked under his windshield wiper, he expected it was something negative.

“We though it was ‘don’t park here’,” he said with a chuckle.

Instead what he found was a card from a family thanking him for his service.

His vehicle has veteran’s licence plates. He figures that’s why it was chosen.

“It was touching, that somebody would take the time to do this,” Reynard said. “This is just a random act of kindness.”

Reynard, now a member of the Royal Canadian Legion, served in the navy from the early 1960s until 1966. As a radar spotter, he worked mainly in the North Atlantic, based out of Halifax.

“I was aboard Canada’s only aircraft carrier at the time which was the Bonaventure,” he said.

The note capped off a touching day. Reynard had been asked to unveil a new plaque at the Murrayville cemetery detailing the local impacts of the First World War.

He had been asked by the volunteer organizing committee of the Murrayville ceremony. He started going to Murrayville’s cenotaph because it as a quiet spot on Nov. 11, attracting a handful of neighbourhood residents. Other local cenotaphs attracted big crowds for their ceremonies.

“I went to the Murrayville cemetery two years ago, because I found it difficult to go into Aldergrove or downtown [Langley City],” he said.

Two years ago, a handful of people were at the cenotaph on Nov. 11. Then last year a volunteer group of local citizens organized a service that attracted hundreds of people, and Reynard found it difficult to navigate the cemetery.

So he wrote to the organizers, offering suggestions on how to improve parking, particularly for veterans and the disabled.

That connected him with committee member Grace Muller who approached him this year about doing the unveiling honours because he was a military veteran.

Reynard contacted the local newspaper about the simple yet meaningful gesture in case it allowed the family who left the note to see how much it was appreciated.

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A note signed by a family was found on the windshield of veteran Lloyd Reynard. (Photo provided)


Heather Colpitts

About the Author: Heather Colpitts

Since starting in the news industry in 1992, my passion for sharing stories has taken me around Western Canada.
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