Jim DeMarce is 76 years young. And if his quick wit doesn't hook you, his intelligent  conversation and hearty laugh will.

Photo Credit: NowMediaJim DeMarce

DeMarce is a vet. He never did see enemy action, which is one of the reasons he's still with us. But he did serve in the Canadian army from 1960 to 1966 as a paratrooper and physical education instructor.

And Monday morning during Penticton's Remembrance Day ceremonies at the Trade and Convention Centre, he'll play a starring role.

Photo Credit: NowMedia

"I helped organize it, I got the Colour Guard all together," he said Friday afternoon at a table in the new Royal Canadian Legion HQ on Brunswick Street. "And it'll be my job on Monday to take the Colour Party inside the Convention Centre."

"When they say 'March on the colours,' then it's my job to march them down the centre aisle and up to the stage, where they take their position. The new Penticton Youth Pipe Band will pipe us in and out."

Later, he'll be involved in what is arguably the ceremony's most emotional moment, the playing of The Last Post. He'll be taking the salute.

Photo Credit: NowMediaScene from 2018 ceremony

But Friday afternoon was DeMarce's time to relax. He'd spent the morning at a service at Pen High, where the kids, he said, were wonderful. "There must have been 25 of them who came up to me, shook my hand, and said, 'Thanks for serving.' I was really touched."

"It really, really does mean something when you go up to a veteran and say thanks."

He rightfully looks back on his days in the military with pride. You can see the sparkle in his eye when he gets going.

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"I have 754 jumps to my credit. My lowest one was 900 feet, which is military, and my highest is 19,000, which was off duty."

When asked why he'd do something as ridiculous as jumping from a plane at 19,000 feet, he was quick with the response. "We just wanted to go as high as we can," he said with a laugh.

"I was on leave in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The Golden Hawks, the US Military parachute team, they knew I was a skydiver, so we went up to 19000 feet, on oxygen, and 32 of us went out the back door. Off the ramp."

Photo Credit: NowMediaScene from 2018 ceremony

He said skydiving was only occasionally scary, like the time his main chute failed to deploy. "My main didn't open properly. I was the 34th guy out of the aircraft, but I was the first one on the ground. It was a quick trip."

He laughs again and we realize we're talking to one seriously macho dude.

"I was also a phys ed instructor," he said. "I'd train the recruits and get them into shape. Sometimes I'd run 20 miles in a day. In full battle order too. All your packs, gear, everything."

Photo Credit: NowMediaScene from 2018 ceremony

"And we had to go through gas chambers in case you ever got gassed. Then your instructors would make you take off your mask and then you'd get your lungs filled with it. And then you'd choke and spit up for an hour afterward."

DeMarce learned how to operate and fire machine guns too. And rocket launchers. And these days, just four years short of 80, he's the Legion's Sergeant at Arms – in other words, its policeman and bouncer. The guy doesn't shy away from the action.

But on Friday, he was most excited about Monday. About the parades and the ceremony, and also about the after-party back at the Legion, which he'd love you to attend.

Photo Credit: NowMediaScene from 2018 ceremony

"We hope we'll be full," he said. "You don't have to be a member. The pipe band will be performing right after the ceremony, and the Ladies Auxilliary will make soup and sandwiches. Then we'll have another band later."

"We'll stay open until 7 or 8 at night once everything is done. And it's wide open. Anyone can come in. You don't have to be a member. Not on Remembrance Day."

Photo Credit: NowMediaScene from 2018 ceremony

The 2019 Penticton Remembrance Day Ceremony kicks off Monday morning when veterans assemble at the Penticton Curling Club at 9:45. Fifteen minutes later they'll march across the parking lot to the Trade and Convention Centre, where the service will begin promptly at 10:30. Attendees are asked to be seated by 10:15.

The post-ceremony get-together commences directly afterward at the recently relocated and revamped Penticton branch of the Royal Canadian Legion at 257 Brunswick Street.

Photo Credit: NowMediaScene from 2018 ceremony