As many mark the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the United States, the solemn occasion also comes almost a quarter century before Canadian Armed Forces personnel joined a global fight against terrorism.
On Sept. 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people died when hijackers forcibly took control four aircraft. The first two aircraft crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The attacks prompted Canada’s ambassador to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) to move for the alliance to, for the first time ever, invoke Article Five – the clause in the NATO treaty that says an attack on one member country constitutes an attack on all.
Canada went to war with its allies to support the United States and overthrow the Taliban regime which was harbouring the terror group led by Osama bin Laden that was behind the 9/11 attacks.
Canadian Armed Forces special forces personnel were sent to Afghanistan in December 2001, marking the beginning of 13 calendar years of fighting and training operations. By the time the military ended its presence in the country in 2014, more than 40,000 soldiers rotated through – the longest tenure in Canadian history and the largest deployment since the Second World War. In addition to civilian deaths, 158 soldiers died in Afghanistan.
Private Demetrios Diplaros, a 24-year-old former Scarborough resident, was among the Canadians who died in the line of duty. For nearly 18 years now, Anargyros ”Jerry” Diplaros and members of his family have mourned the loss of Demetrios.
“He was typical young boy, you know, with the sports and the video games,” Jerry said during a recent interview with CityNews while showing a collection of photos of Demetrios.
The pair worked together at Cineplex before Demetrios pursued his dream of being a soldier, following in the footsteps of his father.
“‘You like it or not, but that’s up to you, all right … [there’s] going to be moments where you’re going to be like 1,000 miles far from from your family, and you’re going to face the danger,’” Jerry recalled telling his son.
“He was so proud when he was wearing the uniform.”
Jerry said one of the last, brief conversations Demetrios had was with his sister. He said his family remembered hearing gunfire at the time of the call.
“‘Sorry, I love you, but I have to go.’ Like (he) hang up the phone,” he said.
Lt.-Col. Trevor Norton is assigned to the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, but served multiple deployments in Afghanistan over two years. He described the intensity of fighting as being similar to the First World War and the Second World War albeit on a smaller scale.
“When I look back at 9/11 and realizing we are the 25th anniversary, I see a direct line from that event straight through my two deployments and to who I am now,” he said while speaking with CityNews on Friday.
“It’s the visceral environment of combat sort of brings that everything is extreme. The jokes are extreme. The sort of back and forth communications on the radio, everything is extreme because you’re you’re in an active war zone, and you know it’s the threat of serious injury and death.
“There’s also you know moments I remember about dealing with the Afghan population and getting to know them, especially in Kabul, where we would be walking through the city regularly and you would have engagements with with civilians … they impressed me in many ways.”
The losses of fellow soldiers, Norton said, had an effect on him.
“You’ve gone through the same system, wear the same uniform. You know, you have the same sense of patriotism that is pervasive in the Canadian Forces, obviously. So it it hurts each one of them, even if you didn’t know them,” Norton said.
“How do you maintain morale? It really is a focus on the mission, and it really is when you’re on the ground. It is a focus on supporting your brothers and sisters on your left and right, up and down the chain.”
He also remembered multiple repatriation ceremonies at CFB Trenton where fallen service members were flown to before a journey on the ‘Highway of Heroes,’ which saw personnel transferred to the coroner’s office in Toronto.
“Just seeing all the Canadians there holding their placards, holding the flags, and paying their respects, it it really really meant something. When you go back to Afghanistan or you’re talking to other soldiers about you know the support that Canadians are giving you, it gives you that vivid image, and which really does give you strength to know that truly the country is standing behind you,” Norton said, adding that type of support is more important than ever as approximately 3,000 Canadian Armed Forces personnel rotate annually through Latvia as part of Operation Reassurance.
Firefighters in Canada worked to provide respite for colleagues months after 9/11
As the extensive search for survivors and the remains of victims carried on at the World Trade Center in the days, weeks and months after the attack on Sept. 11, former Toronto Professional Fire Fighters’ Association (TPFFA) president Jim Lee was in contact with his counterparts in New York City.
“We knew it was going to be very, very labour-intensive (and) that it was going to take a number of firefighters to go up to where those planes had crashed in, and try and put the fire out and rescue the people. There were thousands of people in that building that obviously wanted to get out,” Lee recalled thinking at the time.
At the time, Lee said fire and police union officials asked emergency personnel here not to come due to logistical concerns involving an influx of outside help. He noted some still went down on their own accord, but the TPFFA shifted to fundraising.
“We started to raise money for the orphans and the widows of the fallen firefighters, and I’ll tell you the citizens of Canada really stepped up to the plate. They started to make money like never before, and it sent a great message to our firefighters in the U.S. that Canada was behind them 100.per cent,” Lee told CityNews.
He also recalled a large effort to bring New York City firefighters to Ontario as part of an effort to help them “regroup and have other things to think about other than trying to rescue or recover bodies.” The contingent eventually made their way to Toronto where they played a baseball game on the field at Rogers Centre, go to a Toronto Blue Jays game against the New York Yankees later on, and then a golf trip to a course near Gravenhurst.
“I think the firefighters that came in really appreciated the Toronto firefighters reaching out to them and trying to help them cope,” he said.
“It’s a brother and sisterhood.”
CityNews recently spoke with Joseph Dittmar, a retired insurance executive, about his harrowing experience escaping the World Trade Center South Tower on Sept. 11, 2001. He talked about what it was like to see Canadians offer support in the aftermath of the devastation.
“It means the world to me … every bit of help, every ounce of help that we got from everybody, especially our great friends in Canada, was greatly appreciated by those of us that were able to escape,” he said.
“The folks that went and served their countries and served those who love freedom, those who love democracy, those who want to live in a free world-unbelievable feelings of thankfulness for them willing to do this.
“Like I said about the first responders, I don’t know how people can be that brave and that strong. I don’t know how many people — Americans, Canadians, no matter what — that I met along the way who said, “Yeah, I volunteered to go in the service. I volunteered to go to Afghanistan after 9/11 because of 9/11.
“Did we make the world a safer place? A little bit more. Do we still have a lot to go? Absolutely, positively. But every ounce of effort that any of those folks made was not in vain. It’s helped to make the world just a little bit of a better place each day as we go by.”
Meanwhile, back in Scarborough, Jerry had a message for all about remembering the sacrifices made by so many.
“On November 11, just wear the poppy, say thank you — (a) simple thank you, and keep one moment silent,” he said.
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