Plans are under way to bring a new Canadian Afghanistan War Memorial to Huron County.
A charitable non-profit group of community minded businessmen known as The Canada Company, along with Fanshawe College and General Dynamics have received an L.A.V. (Light Armoured Vehicle) to be retrofitted, decommissioned and made into a monument to be placed somewhere in Huron County.
Paul Thorne is part of the group (and past President of the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 109 Goderich) that made a presentation to Huron County Council today (Wednesday).
Thorne says they'd like to place this used military vehicle on a pedestal so to speak, as a remembrance and tribute to those who have served and paid the ultimate price for Canada.
"It's gonna be dedicated to the 158 Canadian Soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan and also as a tribute to the 40,000 other Canadian Servicemen and women who served in Afghanistan," Thorne tells CKNX.
The L.A.V. is an 8-wheeled armoured vehicle that was used in Afghanistan by the Canadian Military; the goal is to have the vehicle decommissioned and made safe prior to having it mounted upon a concrete pad as a memorial.
"We thought we would get together with all the communities of Huron County and make it something special," says Thorne, adding, "after all we do have a tie, a very very sad tie, to Afghanistan in so much as we lost one of our own."
Corporal Matthew Dinning of Wingham, ON was killed while serving in Afghanistan in the spring of 2006.
No location has yet been announced for the proposed memorial.