CBS vet touches hearts at Afghanistan remembrance ceremony
By Craig Westcott/October 7, 2022
Close to 200 people, including special guests and dignitaries, showed up Sunday near the cenotaph in Long Pond, CBS for a surprisingly poignant dedication ceremony for a LAV III armoured personnel carrier.
What made the ceremony touching for those on hand, and explained why the vehicle was so important, were the firsthand accounts of Canadian soldiers who found shelter in the LAVs during their tours of combat in Afghanistan.
The ceremony was long in the making. Over a couple of years, the past Honorary Colonel of 37 Service Battalion, Kathy LeGrow of Topsail, and the current Honorary Colonel of the Canadian Forces in Newfoundland, Wayne Miller, led the effort first to secure the huge vehicle, then to have it set up near the cenotaph outside the Town Hall.
But it was speeches by Brigadier General Stéphane Masson, the Commander of the 5th Canadian Division, and Lieutenant Colonel Strong Kyle Strong of CBS, who both served in Afghanistan, who brought home the dangers, fears and sacrifices of the Canadian soldiers who essentially lived in the vehicles for stretches at a time.
Mayor Darrin Bent opened the speeches by welcoming Lieutenant Governor Judy Foote, other special guests, both military and civilian, and CBS residents and others who attended the ceremony, which included a flyover by a Canadian Forces plane from Greenwood Nova Scotia, perfectly timed, it seemed, as Royal Canadian Air Force veteran Woodrow French, on hand to represent Canadian peacekeepers and Metis members of the Forces, was making his remarks.
“The Light Armoured Vehicle Monument, also known as a LAV III, recognizes the 40,000 Canadians Armed Forces members who served in Afghanistan from 2001-2014 and commemorates the 162 Canadians who lost their lives – many of those fallen heroes from right here in Newfoundland and Labrador,” said the mayor. “This monument serves as a lasting tribute to the families of our Canadian Forces, whose lives were forever impacted by the deployment of their loved ones. It also honours the veterans of that conflict who reside within our hometown, some of whom are employees of the Town of Conception Bay South. In fact, the Conception Bay South Fire Department has nearly 20 per cent of its members who are still serving or are veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces.”
Bent noted the people of CBS have a long heritage of military service.
“During World War I, many families from our community of Topsail, now part of Conception Bay South, suffered the loss of loved ones on July 1st, 1916, at Beaumont-Hamel – three of whom were Blue Puttees,” he noted. “In 1922, the Topsail War Memorial was unveiled to honour those who had made that supreme sacrifice. The original Topsail War Memorial is now the focal point of the Conception Bay South Monument of Honour, which was unveiled in 2015 and proudly recognizes all members of the Uniformed Services.”
In 2019, on the recommendation of Miller and LeGrow, the Town applied for a LAV III Monument, to continue its support and appreciation for military service and sacrifice.
“In 2021, this full-size, demilitarized, replica LAV III was unveiled next to the Conception Bay South Monument of Honour, but today’s ceremony was delayed due to Covid-19 restrictions,” Bent said. “These monuments are constructed from previously used LAV III hulls and remnant parts, which have been decommission by the Government of Canada. This LAV III is a permanent community symbol of remembrance, and we are proud to have it on display in front of our Town Hall.”
As fellow veterans of Afghanistan and current members of the Canadian Forces looked on, Lieut. Col. Strong spoke as a living embodiment of the town’s heritage referenced by the mayor.
“The morning of 9/11, I sat in my parents living room in Manuels, just a few minutes from here, and watched the events of the day unfold,” Strong recalled. “I had just finished infantry officer training a few weeks earlier and was home on leave. My mother asked, ‘Is this going to impact you? Naively, I said that I didn’t think so. But in just a few months I’d be standing on the airfield in Kandahar. Fast forward to today and I stand here to remember lost comrades.”
Around the time that Wayne Miller and his team had coordinated the installation of the town’s new cenotaph in 2015, Strong said, he casually mentioned to him that it would be nice to have some kind of monument dedicated to the 158 Canadian soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan.
“As I walked around the monument, honestly, I was thinking about a small plaque or marker of some sort,” said Strong. “Little did I know that Wayne and Kathy had much bigger plans than a simple plaque. Instead, they felt a more fitting memorial would be an eight-wheeled, 18 tonne armoured infantry fighting vehicle similar to what was used on the battlefields of Afghanistan – one of only 33 such monuments across the country to honour those killed during Canada’s longest war where 40,000 had served. And I am so very thankful to them, and the town of CBS, that they had far greater vision for this poignant memorial than I. To Wayne, Kathy and the Town of CBS – I can only say thank you.”
Strong allowed that some people were concerned that the sight of such a large military vehicle outside the Town Hall might look too aggressive, or menacing, or serve as a “too direct reminder of the machinery of war.”
Those are all valid feelings, he admitted.
“But that is not what I see or feel,” said Strong. “I see the safety and protection it afforded soldiers. I feel a soldier’s comfort when mounting up after a long patrol in the sun. I see the security and feel the reassurance it provided when its guns pounded the enemy’s position. And I feel the pride that we felt while doing our part. But most importantly, I see and feel the presence of lost comrades – friends – and all those who died serving each other and Canada. They were the best I’ve ever known, and the best Canada had to offer.”
The purpose of monuments such as the LAV III is not to glorify war, Strong explained.
“You only need ask a veteran to know that there is no glory there,” he added.
Rather, such monuments honour the dedication to duty and sacrifice willingly made for the benefit of others, he said.
“That is what we remember and what we can never forget,” said Strong. “I have lived most of my life in CBS and am happy to now raise my family here – a place that so highly values the service and sacrifice of the military and places such significance and commitment on remembrance. To all residents of CBS – thank you. I want to thank you for taking a brief moment to remember those who are no longer with us. As a veteran of Afghanistan, I can think of no more fitting tribute to the many who were lost than to honour their memory by simply saying, ‘We will remember them.’ I know following my service in Afghanistan, those four simple words have come to mean so very much. And let us never fail to fully support the families of those who never returned and those who returned and are never the same. They are the ones who continue to suffer, to struggle most with the loss of loved ones in every way. It is our duty to honour and care for them just as we honour their fallen loved ones. This must be our solemn vow to those who gave all.”
Following the playing of The Last Post and two minutes of silence, the veterans and guests held a special wreath laying ceremony, one for every Newfoundlander who died in Afghanistan, young people in their early and mid-20s and in one case 30s. That list includes Sgt. Donald Lucas of St. John’s, Pvt. Kevin Kennedy of St. Lawrence, Sgt. Craig Gillam of Stephenville Crossing, Warrant Officer Richard Nolan of Mount Pearl, Cpl. Brian Pinksen of Sop’s Arm, Cpl. Jamie Murphy of Conception Harbour, Capt. Francis Paul of Badger, Pvt. Justin Jones of Baie Verte, Cpl. Kenneth O’Quinn of Goose Bay, Cpl. Stephen Bouzane of Springdale, and Sgt. Vaughn Ingram of Burgeo.