Veteran at Ottawa raising of Canada's Maple Leaf flag 60 years ago pens heartfelt letter to it

The morning of Feb. 16, 1965, will always remain etched in Canadian veteran Bruce Stock's memory. 

The retired major from London, Ont., was in his mid-20s and on Parliament Hill that frigid day, serving as an aide-de-camp to the governor general at the time, Georges Vanier. He was among thousands of Canadians who witnessed the new Maple Leaf flag being hoisted, marking a new era of the country's identity. 

"It was so huge that it took a while for it to unfold and [I] always remember that time when we were waiting and then finally this beautiful giant Maple Leaf appeared, and the whole crowd went crazy. I still get chills when I think about it," Stock recalled to CBC News. 

"I was deeply moved because I realized it was my country's new identity."

To commemorate the flag's 60th anniversary, Stock wrote it a heartfelt letter. In it, he details the moment the Maple Leaf was first unveiled to the public, the contention over the years leading up to it and how the flag grew to become accepted as a national symbol. 

Part of the three-page letter, which you'll see Stock read in full in the video above, says, "I remember having to hold my salute as you struggled to unfurl your Peace Tower size, attached to what seemed like a stunted 100-foot flagpole. And then your beautiful, giant Maple Leaf fully unfolded, to give us Canada's new identity. The cheers on Parliament Hill that day were deafening.

"Yet, some people still worried your design was problematic. It was as if they could not leave well enough alone, and had to fabricate objections to your appearance and how we would be perceived not only at home, but around the world. Fast forward to today and those non-believers have long been silenced.

"You are now widely accepted as one of the most welcome symbols of democracy anywhere on the planet, and you are fully embraced by those at home and millions of newcomers," the letter also says.

Stock, 86, told CBC News he feels blessed to have "the incredible good fortune of being there the day our flag was born."  

"We'd gone through some very serious debates right across the country about the suitability of replacing our flag of the day, which was the Red Ensign, with a new flag. And of course, the veterans were against it because they'd lost too many of their buds under the Ensign."

The Red Ensign, which prominently featured the Union Jack, was replaced by the Canadian flag as we know it today, following years of friction among some Canadians who wanted to keep the original flag as a nod to Canada's British roots.

Former prime minister John Diefenbaker and others wanted a new flag to assert the country's independence. Diefenbaker argued that troops fought and died under the Ensign in international conflicts.

However, the prime minister back then, Lester Pearson, wanted a flag that was distinctly Canadian and would showcase the nation's unity in tumultuous times, marked by a rise in Quebeçois separatism.