War widow welcomes Afghanistan cenotaph
Signatures, messages featured of Canadian men who died during tour of duty in war
A memorial cenotaph paying tribute to Canadian soldiers who died in Afghanistan arrived in Ottawa Tuesday.
The memorial came to Ottawa in pieces, shipped in crates from Kandahar, Afghanistan where it once stood in the Kandahar Airfield.
There were a series of plaques sent back featuring those who died in the field of battle. There were also artefacts with signatures of men who fought in the war and messages of remembrance for those who died.
The CBC's Ashley Burke spoke to one widow who was able to touch her husband's plaque Tuesday.
"It brings it all home. It's closure," said Sandra Good, whose husband Trooper Brian Good was killed by a roadside bomb in Kandahar in January 2009.
"I know he was there with the plaque looking at it everyday going to work. It meant something to him. Now it's here. It brings his thoughts here as well," she said.
Memorial finally finishes 3-month journey
The cenotaph, which was started in 2006, has had a long journey home beginning in November. That is when engineers first carved it out of the ground.
In all, the cenotaph weighs about 200,000 kg and is made of cement and granite with a marble facing.
'When you see it like this, just to touch the sand on it, it's warm.'
—Sandra Good, widow of Trooper Brian Good
"Normally we don't bring back battlefield memorials," said Richard Foster, Chief of Staff at Canada Command.
"But having been in Afghanistan for over 10 years — the blood and treasure that we paid over there — I think it was very appropriate."
The Canadian Forces is currently working with the National Capital Commission to find a home for the cenotaph in Ottawa, as well as other materials shipped home from Kandahar.
Unfortunately, the memorial was built for sandy Afghanistan and not to survive a Canadian winter. The location must be indoors and Foster said he hopes the cenotaph will have a home by 2014.