I had a similar response when arriving in Victoria from Port Angeles on a car ferry with my son…“Where’s your mum” the officious young female Canada immigration officer demanded (my son was 13 at the time). Fortunately we had prepared and I had a signed statement from his mother that he was traveling with me with her approval…
PS the US military as far back as when I was in 1969-69 made you think metric distances….we ranged tank weapons fire in Kilometers commonly known as K’s
Veterans day is 11/11 only in US…rest of world it is Remembrance day for the fallen originally in WW 1