Afghanistan Repatriation Memorial - Trenton, ON

in #community5 years ago (edited)

Back in September my sister @artemisnorth was able to visit for a few days. She came down to help out as I’d had some surgery. Thankfully, I was a bit more mobile than originally expected and we were able to get out for some outings.

One of those outings was to Belleville which took us past Canadian Forces Base Trenton and the Afghanistan Repatriation Memorial. I had never actually visited the memorial so we stopped in.

Background to the Memorial

Over 40,000 Canadians served in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2014. Many served multiple tours of duty. They left from bases all over Canada but 162 returned to Canada through CFB Trenton.

They were the fallen, repatriated home at this base and then transported with their families to Toronto along the Trans Canada Highway 401. That stretch of highway has been renamed to “Highway of Heroes” to honour the actions of Canadians who turned out to show respect and support to the fallen and their families.

It started quietly with the return of the first four killed in a friendly fire incident in Kandahar. A few people went to bridges along the route. It grew from there until all 53 overpasses from Trenton to Toronto were covered with people.

This video honours the paramedics who died but also shows clips along the highway of heroes and puts faces to the fallen. The music is “The Highway of Heroes” written and sung by the Trews:

I was among those who went to the bridges. We’d be there sometimes for hours in all kinds of weather when flights were delayed arriving. As the public became more aware and media attention became focused on the arriving flights it became easier to time our arrival on the bridges.

But even during those hours in bone chilling winter cold, no one left and went home. We were there to support the families and honour the fallen. I remember wondering sometimes if the families saw us there as support or not. Until the day when six were returned home and I saw hands coming out of the family limos with thumbs up. It was all the answer I needed.

The Memorial

The memorial is in Bain Park at the western edge of CFB Trenton. It was funded entirely by donations from citizens. The dedication ceremony took place on November 10, 2012:

The setting for the memorial is off the main highway near the shore of the Bay of Quinte giving the area a place of quiet reflection and peacefulness.

The inscription from the pillar at the tip of the memorial will serve to describe the next pictures.

Welcome to this place of contemplation and tribute to Canadian soldiers who lost their lives in the war in Afghanistan.

The red maple leaf symbolizes Canada, and the citizens of its provinces and territories who honour these soldiers and proudly remember.

In the most private space of the memorial, sheltered between the two maple leaves, the names of the fallen are inscribed.

Symbolic of powerful emotional bonds, as well as, profound loss and separation, an image of a soldier stands beside friends and family both connected and yet separated by a crevice cutting through the black maple leaf.

Standing as sentinel to the memory of our fallen soldiers a solitary silhouetted soldier faces the memorial. This soldier represents military colleagues standing in mournful tribute while watching over the two granite maple leaves of the memorial. This sentinel demonstrates that the fallen are not forgotten. With this symbol of permanent vigil, we stand together to express our support, pride and gratitude for their sacrifice.

Two benches like this flank the memorial, providing place for people to sit and reflect.

The arrangement of the walkways and gardens surrounding the memorial give a heart like shape to the memorial. I know some mistakenly believe war memorials exist to glorify war. They don’t. They are there as silent reminders of the horrific cost of war through the people taken from our lives.


They shall grow not old, as we who are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will remember them.


steemit ramble

Until Next Time — Just Steem on

If you like this, please follow me and upvote the post.

If you’d like to see the other days I’ve posted, just visit my profile

Want to @reviewme? Add your comment to this post

Sort:  

Beautifully written sis. It really is a powerful and emotional memorial.

it is .. the setting makes it even more so

Such a powerful, heartbreaking, and moving post.
thanks for a little look into this place.

thank you @bluefinstudios .. that means a lot

Hi @shadowspub!

I really enjoy reading your post yesterday during the curation show and be able to talk about with you in person. This post hit home in many ways and I want to thank you for sharing it with us all here on the platform

You got SNEKKED! ;)
Expect a certain Snek to come 'round and give you a bite soon ;)

You Got Snekked is a curation project!
We aim to find good content, share a happy moment, & some visibility. Your post got our upvote, and we will feature your post and possibly an image from it in our 39th curation compilation if you don't mind! If you don't want to be featured, please let us know!

Also, feel welcome to join our community on Discord! -:

https://discord.gg/VWJxTEz

thank you very kindly @poeticsnake

Have not been back to Trenton for a while... I think that I may make a trip out there to visit the memorial, shortly.

I have spent many teary moments on the overpasses. It's very emotional seeing all the people stopping and paying their respects to our fallen as they make the final trip down the Highway of Heroes.

Posted using Partiko Android

it is very emotional ... was one time that the politics of the conflict didn't enter into the picture. It was all about support and respect.

If you get down.. let me know. There is a TIm's near me you'll be passing by.

Hi, @shadowspub!

You just got a 1.51% upvote from SteemPlus!
To get higher upvotes, earn more SteemPlus Points (SPP). On your Steemit wallet, check your SPP balance and click on "How to earn SPP?" to find out all the ways to earn.
If you're not using SteemPlus yet, please check our last posts in here to see the many ways in which SteemPlus can improve your Steem experience on Steemit and Busy.

That cracked maple leaf with the soldier torn from his family is brutal.

Posted using Partiko Android

it graphically represents the tear in the family ... had never seen that approach before but it's appropriate

Does touch the heart strings, for sure.

Posted using Partiko Android

Hi @shadowspub - thank you for sharing this. My family is full of military veterans and now I have two sons serving in the US Marines. Such memorials allow me to contemplate and remember those who gave all.

yes they are thought provoking for sure .. reminds us of what is important in so many ways.

Hi @shadowspub!

Your post was upvoted by @steem-ua, new Steem dApp, using UserAuthority for algorithmic post curation!
Your UA account score is currently 5.973 which ranks you at #303 across all Steem accounts.
Your rank has dropped 1 places in the last three days (old rank 302).

In our last Algorithmic Curation Round, consisting of 312 contributions, your post is ranked at #33.

Evaluation of your UA score:
  • You've built up a nice network.
  • The readers appreciate your great work!
  • Try to work on user engagement: the more people that interact with you via the comments, the higher your UA score!

Feel free to join our @steem-ua Discord server

Congratulations! This post has been chosen as one of the daily Whistle Stops for The STEEM Engine!

You can see your post's place along the track here: The Daily Whistle Stops, Issue 282 (10/15/18)

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.36
TRX 0.12
JST 0.039
BTC 70181.59
ETH 3549.53
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.74