Photo credit: Veterans Memorial Park.

By Curtis Galbraith

Community

Veterans Memorial Park adding Soldiers of Suicide Memorial this summer

Apr 6, 2025 | 6:00 AM

Grande Prairie’s Veterans Memorial Park plans to add a Soldiers of Suicide Memorial this summer.

An unveiling and weekend of healing is planned for August 15 to 17.

Spokesperson Renee Charbonneau says a local business is helping with this project.

“We have been blessed to have Kaymor (Industrial Solutions) out of Clairmont donate the creation and installation of a six foot tall World War I trench lamp that will be solar backlit and meant to chase the darkness away.”

Charbonneau says the weekend will also include a motorcycle ride to various legions and war memorials in the Peace and tributes to soldiers that fight “the battle that just won’t end.”

There will also be speakers talking about PTSD and people on hand from the Suicide Prevention Resource Centre. Charbonneau says the centre will be offered space to do suicide prevention workshops.

She adds she wants people to understand that soldiers take an oath to give up their life for Canada and that such oaths mean a lot to people in the military.

“It’s my hope that the people that attend the event will come away understanding that if you witness somebody (being) killed in front of you, someone who was perhaps your bunk mate or maybe they worked with you in the trenches or in your light-armoured personnel carrier or your tank, and they were part of your team, that’s going to affect you.”

Charbonneau says a lot of soldiers also struggle with having to take someone else’s life.

“They know that what they did was the right thing to do for their job, for their country, but they also know morally it’s hard to take a life, and so, talking about those things, making people understand what those battles really are without them having to experience those battles, that’s going to be the hurdle that we have to jump.”

Charbonneau says people from across Canada will be here for the unveiling.

A Women of War Memorial was unveiled at the park in March.