More than 1,500 veterans and serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces honoured Canada's war vets Sunday in one of Toronto's biggest military parades since the Second World War.

Soldiers, sailors and airmen, past and present, marched up University Avenue in an unveiling ceremony that lasted more than two hours, and included a 15-gun salute, a fly past of military aircraft and the inspection of a military guard of honour by Lt.-Gov. James Bartleman.

The parade to Queen's Park was one of Toronto's largest since the Second World War.
(Carolyn Ryan/CBC)

But it will not be the military pageantry that will linger in the minds of Torontonians.

The marchers were there to unveil a $1.8-million veterans memorial on the front lawn of the Ontario legislature. It's a 30-metre-long granite wall that depicts scenes of military heroism from Confederation to Afghanistan.

"It may seem strange to talk about love when we speak of war, but only love can explain the depth of your sacrifice," Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty told the crowd of nearly 2,000 people who watched the ceremony. "Your hope for our world created a world full of hope."

The monument is the first addition to the grounds of Queen's Park in 66 years.

"In poignant words and images, this monument tells your story and their [story]," said Bartleman. "May it keep the flame of gratitude alive in our hearts for years to come."

An emotional day

The ceremony left many veterans in tears.

Bill Frankish, an 86-year-old veteran of the Second World War, told CBC News the monument will be an important reminder for young people.

Another veteran, Pauline Hebb, told Canadian Press she was delighted by the wall, which she called "very beautiful."

Hebb, an 82-year-old former member of the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRENS), said it was about time that Ontario built such a monument.

"It's nice to be remembered, although I think anybody, like myself, if you ask them if they'd do it again, they'd say, 'In a heartbeat,' because we were so proud to be doing what we were doing."

Navy volunteer Morley Barnes, 81, of Georgetown, Ont., said Canadians "have a tendency to forget the price that was paid for such a gorgeous country. You have freedom. There's 115,000 Canadians lying in Europe that paid for that freedom."

One of the guiding lights behind the memorial was retired major general Richard Rohmer, who co-chaired the project from its inception three years ago.

"It's really beautiful, spectacular," Rohmer told CBC News. "This design is really spectacular."

The granite wall was designed by Allan Harding MacKay — curatorial consultant at the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery — who beat out 40 competitors to win the right to design the memorial.

The veterans memorial was announced in 2002 by the former Conservative government of Ontario.

McGuinty picked up the ball in 2004 and set up a veterans advisory committee that started construction last December.