REGINA – Almost 100 years after the First World War began, 1,200 veterans from Saskatchewan who gave their lives fighting are finally being recognized for their sacrifice.
The province has matched an $80,000 fundraising campaign put on by the Saskatchewan War Memorial Foundation to add the names they missed when the Saskatchewan War Memorial was first erected in 1995.
The committee’s chairman, Lt.-Col. Terry Lyons, said at the time they thought they had included everyone.
But around 2006, the committee started a virtual memorial tour online.
They found there were hundreds of people looking for their family members on the site, but some weren’t finding them.
Lyons said the committee knew it had to rectify the mistake.
The committee knew it needed the money quickly so the new plaques could be dedicated on Aug. 4, the 100-year anniversary of the start of the First World War.
They had about $80,000 in fundraising money but decided to ask the government to match it.
“Lest We Forget is a cautionary invocation repeated over time for our soldiers lost in service,” said Culture Minister Kevin Doherty.
“A century ago, they left their jobs, farms and families to defend our freedom. With our actions this year, we will be heeding that promise by remembering their names and honouring their sacrifices.”
Two new stone walls will be built at the memorial site, each holding two plaques with the list of names.
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