Afghanistan war memorial unveiled in Amherst

A new stone monument that pays tribute to Canadian Armed Forces members who died in Afghanistan has been unveiled in Amherst, N.S.

The granite monument, which lists the names of 158 soldiers who lost their lives, is in a park next to Amherst Town Hall.

"It's very fulfilling to know that our Afghanistan veterans now in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, but all over Canada, have another monument to remember their fallen comrades," said Justin McKay who has worked for about a year to bring the project to life.

McKay, who is the sergeant-at-arms for the Amherst branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, said he wanted to make sure veterans from the area have a place to reflect.

More than 40,000 Canadian Armed Forces members served in the Afghanistan conflict between 2001 and 2014. 

"We estimate there are over 100 Afghan veterans in Cumberland County," McKay said. "We have Moncton not far away and Sackville. There are probably some Afghan veterans there as well that can now have a place here in Nova Scotia."

'I served closely with a dozen names on there'

The monument is easy to spot right beneath a large mural on the town hall wall that commemorates the North Nova Scotia Highlanders infantry regiment.   

Mark Joseph, who served in Afghanistan as a Warrant Officer in the Canadian military from October 2009 to May 2010, was there for the unveiling of the memorial on Saturday, Sept. 23.

"I served closely with a dozen names on there, and I probably know more than that," Joseph said. "This means a lot."

Now the deputy mayor of Cumberland after retiring from the military, Joseph is grateful to McKay for taking the lead on an important project.

He still believes the mission was critical to women and girls in Afghanistan, even though the Taliban — who Canada and its allies fought against — are now back in control and have been taking away their rights.

"I think it opened the eyes to the younger generation, to the younger women within Afghanistan to know that you can be free, you can have freedom of speech, you can have an education," Joseph said.

The Amherst branch of the legion garnered private and corporate donations to raise nearly $37,000 toward the monument, McKay said.

It also benefited from in-kind donations from businesses and the town itself.

"The town is very proud to have an Afghan memorial on this property," said Leon Landry, the deputy mayor for Amherst. "We are 100 per cent supportive of the Amherst Legion in their endeavours here and we're quite thrilled to have it."

While Justin McKay is not an Afghanistan veteran himself, he consulted with those who served there on the monument's design.

He was a member of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and was stationed in Winnipeg, but also has a deep connection to the memorial, having personally also known several soldiers whose names are on the monument.

He is now hoping people visit the memorial in Amherst to pay their respects.