Event honours Oxford County's Afghan vets, veterans of past Canadian conflicts and friends and family of those who served our country over seas.
WOODSTOCK -- The Afghan conflict created over 40,000 new Canadian veterans, with a quarter of them having gone to Afghanistan more than once.
A handful of those were honoured Friday night at Legion Branch 55 in Woodstock -- thanks in part to the work of Master Corporal Kevin DeClark, a 10 year Canadian Forces member and Afghanistan War Veteran, and friend Jeremy MacKnott who spoke of the conflict, its veterans and Pte. Tyler William Todd, who's memorial was unveiled Friday in front of his family.
Private Todd was the only Canadian soldier from Oxford County to be killed during the Afghan mission. The 26 year old Bright native was killed in April of 2010 by an improvised explosive device southwest of Kandahar city.
DeClark says the memorial was unveiled in the Legion, and will remain in the Legion.
"We made it so that all the citizens of Woodstock and Oxford County could come and see the memorial and celebrate Ty's life as a person here and as a soldier overseas, as well as mourn if they need to. So it will be here accessible to the public."
The idea for the event came to DeClark, after Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Friday May 9th, by Royal Proclamation, be a "National Day of Honour" recognizing Canada's Afghan veterans.
Jeremy MacKnott met Declark in 2007, when DeClark came home from Afghanistan and recalled what brought the idea for the event into light -- and how quickly things needed to happen.
"So, Kev came to me when Prime Minister Harper announced a National Day of Honour for May 9th. I said, 'So, are we going to do this?'"
Both had very little time to book the evening, but MacKnott says the community was behind them every step of the way to help make it all happen.
"It's been a journey for four weeks. But I told Kevin and everyone that's helped that if we can do this in four weeks, we can do anything." MacKnott said.
DeClark also felt luck was on their side when he sent a request out to the House of Commons for a page from the 7th Book of Remembrance, which is kept in Ottawa.
The seven Books of Remembrance, (housed in the Peace Tower of the Parliament Building) are illuminated manuscript volumes recording the names of members of the Canadian Forces and Canadian Merchant Navy killed on active service in wartime, and in other conflicts.
A seventh Book of Remembrance, dedicated on November 11, 2005, lists members of the Canadian Forces who have died on active duty in the service of Canada, including most recently, Afghanistan. A ceremony is acted each morning to flip the page to a new page, which is done at the same time daily.
"I just happened to talk to Jeremy about the page, and he was in Ottawa when Ty's page was actually being displayed," says DeClark. "Call it a coincidence, but when we started talking about this, Jeremy decided, 'You know what? -- We need to get that page,' so I requested it -- and it came. We threw it all together Thursday night, just in the nick of time."
Both DeClark and MacKnott spoke before the unveiling of The Pte. Tyler W. Todd Memorial, which was presented to his family, who were also in attendance.
Stephen Smith, First Vice President with the Royal Canadian Legion in Woodstock said Friday's event seated roughly 150 people for dinner with even more turning out for the entertainment portion of evening.
Friday's Evening of Honour also featured a silent auction which Smith described what all proceeds raised would go toward.
"All of the proceeds that are raised this evening will be put back into making and refurbishing the Tyler Todd Memorial and also to assist the Legion in doing some upgrades that are much needed to help them with their energy conservation."
MacKnott, who was stunned by the turnout given how little time was available to put the evening together, says both he and DeClark hope to make Friday's recognition an annual tribute.
Also in attendance at Friday's "Evening of Honour" was Woodstock Mayor Pat Sobeski, Oxford MP Dave MacKenzie and long-time veteran's advocate, Walter Gretzky.
Friday's National Day of Honour also featured a ceremony in Ottawa that included a 21-gun salute, marching bands and fly-overs. There was also two minutes of silence in memory of the 158 soldiers who died during the Afghan war.
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