War Memorial Unveiling Tomorrow

Friday, 10 April 2015 06:37

Woodstock joins only a handful of Canadian communities to erect a monument to veterans of the Afghanistan War.

WOODSTOCK - A new memorial aims to honour our fallen troops of the War in Afghanistan.

Saturday morning at the Woodstock Cenotaph a special event will unveil a memorial consisting of a pedestal and plaque bearing the visual of a soldier and an inscription. Woodstock will also be joining the handful of Canadian communities to erect a battle cross in honour of veterans of the Afghan war. Jeremy MacKnott has helped to bring this memorial to light, and he says, "There's less than a handful across Canada of these Afghan monuments so it's pretty big for Woodstock to have."

Although the monument will be honouring all Canadians who took part in the War in Afghanistan, a special thought will be given to Oxford's only casualty of the Afghan War, Private Tyler Todd. One man will be from as far away as Edmonton to attend Saturday's unveiling Edmonton and pay his respects to Private Tyler Todd - the man was with Private Todd on his last walk.

Private Tyler Todd will be remembered fondly by many people in the community, and MacKnott says they are doing their best to honour Private Tyler Todd as well as other people serving through several different events. "It all started back on May 9th 2014, we held an event, Evening of Honour. And it was just a night out with a prime rib dinner and some bands. It was a night to honour the troops - we comped all the troop's plates - and it was just kind of night for them to get out with the public and other military and just kind of kick their feet and show them that we appreciate everything that they do. We ended up raising $6 000 from that event so we set out with two goals in mind: one was to renovate the main hall at the Woodstock legion and rededicate it the Private Tyler Todd Memorial Hall. And the second was to purchase the statue, the battle cross, and erect it here in Woodstock for all Afghan troops."

The unveiling will happen Saturday, April 11th at 11am. MacKnott says the event plans to go forward no matter what the weather holds. "It's a go either way. These troops, they went through a lot more than a little bit of rain."

MacKnott suggests arriving at the Woodstock Cenotaph no latter than 10:30am to ensure you can get a spot.