The Portage Legion Branch #65 has received a $2,000 donation from Southport Aerospace toward its ongoing downtown cenotaph expansion project at Veterans Memorial Park.
“It’s a project that we’re working on with the city where we are attempting to add two stones to the cenotaph on either side," said Bob Oldford, service officer and media liaison for the Legion.
Oldford said the goal is to raise $25,000 nothing "they still have some room to go.”
All funds go through City Hall, and tax receipts are issued for donations.
The existing cenotaph has stood downtown since sometime between the First and Second World Wars.
“It was on federal government land at one time because that used to be all the land owned by the post office,” Oldford said. “And then the federal government sold the post office building and that small portion of land, that little park, was then given to the city.”
The cenotaph’s upper section lists the names of local soldiers who died in the First World War.
“There are 167 names of Portage individuals that have paid the ultimate sacrifice on that upper portion,” Oldford said. “Then the lower portion has a brass plaque on it, which has all those that were lost during World War II. And then at the bottom, there is another brass plaque with the three names of members of the armed forces who paid the ultimate sacrifice during the Korean War.”
The planned expansion will add two four-foot marble stones.
“The one stone will contain any of the military personnel who have paid the ultimate sacrifice since the Korean War,” Oldford said. “And on the other side will be a stone commemorating the RCMP.”
The RCMP stone will feature three names, including that of a Portage man who died in the line of duty in BC, along with two RCMP officers who died while stationed in Portage. The military stone will honour four Portage individuals who died in the line of duty since the Korean War.
While many soldiers from Portage who served in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War have since passed, they are not listed on the cenotaph if they died of causes other than battle. The monument is dedicated to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in combat.
The dedication ceremony for the completed cenotaph is tentatively scheduled for September, provided fundraising goals are met.
All construction and materials are being handled locally.
Oldford said the project is about remembrance.
“Preserving our history. Honouring those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom,” he noted.
If the project exceeds its fundraising target, leftover funds will be used to clean the cenotaph at Hillside Cemetery.
“It needs a good cleaning and a little bit of work,” Oldford said.
To mark Victory in Europe Day on Thursday, the Legion placed a wreath at the cenotaph to mark the occasion.