A touching temporary tribute to the men and women who died while serving Canada has been erected in a greenspace along Memorial Drive.
A field of more than 3,200 crosses bearing the names of soldiers from southern Alberta who died while protecting the freedom of Canadians has made its annual appearance west of the Centre Street Bridge.
“On the twelfth of November we take it down,” explained Dan McLean, president of the 3rd Canadian Army Veterans Ypres Unit. “It’s like a flash thing so people don’t get used to seeing it.”
“It’s just up for a short amount of time and gone and so it really is impactful that way.”
Mclean, a veteran who served as a Captain with the Royal Canadian Air Force, says the volunteer effort and support for the project has grown over the years.
“It has been absolutely amazing the transition over the years,” said McLean. “When we first started this, we were hammering in the bases with mallets, steel mallets. At the end of the day you could hardly use your arms. Now we’ve got drills.”
The City of Calgary has offered support by paving a section of the park and adding a Canadian flag.
McLean hopes the field will draw curious onlookers to the crosses that bear the names of soldiers, their ranks and the date of their passing.
“They drive-by it and stop by and look. It’s a way to communicate to the ordinary person that doesn’t realize the sacrifice that southern Albertans and, in the larger picture, all Canadians soldiers have made.”
In addition to the volunteer effort to build the field of crosses display, the 3rd Canadian Army Veterans Ypres Unit collects donations and funds for the Veterans Food Bank.
