Local veterans honoured with Quilts of Valour for decades of service
Posted Nov 16, 2025 05:37:51 AM.
Last Updated Nov 16, 2025 02:44:19 PM.
As Canadians take time to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice this month in honour of Remembrance Day, two local veterans received a very special gift.
Following Monday’s unveiling of a memorial crosswalk in Kitchener, local veterans Robert Berg and Ernest “Ernie” Bremner received Quilts of Valour for their decades of service. The quilts are described as “a hug from a grateful nation and a tribute to an injured Canadian Armed Forces member, past or present,” according to the Quilts of Valour website.
Ernie Bremner first joined the Air Cadets in 1961 and joined the Reserve Unit “Fort Gary Horse” in 1965. Two years later, he joined the Regular Force, Royal Canadian Signal Corp. Over his 37 years of service, Bremner was posted to several cities across Canada and the world; including Kingston, Winnipeg, Edmonton, North Bay, Armstrong, B.C., and Syracuse, N.Y.
He was deployed twice to two floods in Manitoba and an ice storm in Ottawa. Between 1974 and 2024, he instructed the cadets, and has been a member of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 50 in Kitchener, serving as president.
Robert Berg was born in Wellesley Township in April 1941 and enlisted in the “Canadian Guards” in 1960. He joined the Royal Canadian Legion in 1971, and has held several positions including seven years as president and one term as zone commander.
He spent 40 years advocating for veterans’ care and 20 years teaching children Why We Remember. He was awarded a Life Membership in 2015 and a Meritorious Service Medal in 2020.
The quilts were handmade by quilters in the region, including in Kitchener, Waterloo and Elmira. Each quilt has the same label that reads “Handmade with love, respect and gratitude for your sacrifice to Canada. May the hugs stitched into this quilt give you comfort, strength and love.”
