KITCHENER — In his Remembrance Day homily at Kitchener's cenotaph Tuesday, Rev. Canon Christopher Pratt sought to calm Canadians rattled by the murder of a defenceless soldier standing guard at the nation's largest war memorial last month.

"Now the battle has come home," Pratt said. " 'O Canada, we stand on guard for thee' are no longer words that can be left hanging in the rafters of hockey arenas, in stadium bleachers or in the halls of civic meeting places. The battle for Canada cannot be delegated to others."

On a day that shaped up to be the warmest November day in years, veterans of various wars and peacekeeping deployments, police, firefighters and cadets marched from Ontario Street to the cenotaph at the corner of Frederick and Duke streets.

They were joined by a huge crowd of Kitchener residents, flanking the soldiers and first responders on all sides, some sitting on risers set up for the morning.

Master Warrant Officer Colin Hock of the Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada stood off the grass surrounding the monument sporting full regimental dress, kilt and all. Behind him, kids and adults snapped photos and took video of the proceedings with their smartphones and tablets.

Canada recently lost Cpl. Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, killed in separate lone wolf attacks. But Hock said Remembrance Day has the "same meaning every year."

"We're here to thank and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice. It's just unfortunate that this year we've lost two on our own soil."

In between receiving well-wishers eager to shake his hand, he called the number of people who came out Tuesday "really good to see."

He said his regiment, which was formed in time for the First World War, sent about 60 men and women to serve tours of duty in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2014.

George S. Hill, who served in the British army in the Second World War and several colonial insurrections in Southeast Asia afterwards, lost two brothers to combat.

"I think it's fantastic the people respond to this," Hill said of the turnout at the ceremony.

He said the murder of Cirillo on Oct. 22 has been hard to swallow.

"I just can't understand how someone would do that — why do people go around shooting other people? It's crazy."

A pair of Cold War-era jet fighters, one from the Royal Canadian Air Force in the late 1950s and the other a Czech-built training jet restored by the Jet Aircraft Museum in London flew over the memorials in Waterloo and Kitchener after the moment of silence had passed.

Throughout the short march and ceremony Tuesday morning, a Waterloo Regional Police officer wearing black tactical clothing and carrying binoculars could be seen pacing on the roof of a low-rise apartment building on Duke Street.