“We will remember”
The Winkler Veterans Association marked the 25th anniversary of the Winkler Cenotaph with a service in Bethel Heritage Park last week.
Delayed a couple days due to the rain on Canada Day, the July 3 event honoured not only the men who gave their lives in service to their country in the First and Second World Wars, but also those who led the charge to finally see a cenotaph built in their memory.
Association president Rob Wiebe recalled that the memorial was originally installed at the corner of 4th St. and Stanley Ave. behind City Hall. It was then moved to the heritage park upon its opening in 2011.
It took over 50 years to get the cenotaph built.
“There were in the neighbourhood of 200 men from Winkler and the area that served in World War 2, and they were not recognized for the great deeds that they did, and the honoured dead were not being honoured,” Wiebe said.
Winkler’s veterans faced challenges when they returned home to a community with deep Mennonite—and, thus, pacifist—roots. Many of their peers chose to become conscientious objectors rather than fight oversees, and it created a rift.
“There was an animosity that was very difficult to overcome,” Wiebe observed, noting many veterans opted to leave the area entirely. “But there were those that remained; there were maybe two dozen or so that stayed in this area, and they pushed hard to get the cenotaph created and placed.”
He recalled founding association members such as Harvey Friesen and Jake Neisteter as being instrumental in that push, among many others.
The cenotaph was officially installed on July 1, 1999. A lighter, more portable replica version was also created to allow for Remembrance Day services to be held indoors.
“We made a pledge that as long as we could, if there was a last man standing, there would be a Remembrance Day service in Winkler,” Wiebe shared. And there has been ever since the cenotaph went up.
The veteran’s association felt it was important to take time to mark the memorial’s milestone anniversary.
“Even today, so many people still say, ‘What’s a cenotaph? Where’s the cenotaph?’ Well, Winkler does have a cenotaph, but they don’t always know about it,” Wiebe said.
The cenotaph serves to ensure the community never forgets its history.
“We are here, the Legion is here, to make sure that never happens,” Wiebe said. “We’re here to recognize that it happened and honour those that fell.”
The Winkler Veteran’s Association is currently made up of several volunteer members. They’re always looking for new people passionate about keeping the community’s remembrance services going
“If there’s somebody that’s interested in being involved, we would not turn them away,” Wiebe said, stressing the importance of the next generation picking up the torch. “Everybody gets older, and we have to take care we are not the last man standing.”
Photo by Ashleigh Viveiros/Voice
