When he was 13 years old, Langley Township Councillor Michael Pratt visited Juno Beach in Normandy and was inspired by the cemetery honouring the Canadian soldiers who died in the battle with a tree planted for each life lost.
“I think there’s a thousand trees there, and I loved that idea,” he said.
He talked to his sister, Elizabeth, about the cemetery and the siblings began brainstorming on ways they could do something similar for Canadians lost to the war in Afghanistan – which went on for nine years between 2002 and 2011.
“The operation was just winding down at that time. My sister had gone to high school with one of the Langley soldiers who was killed, Garret Chidley, and there was another Langley soldier killed as well,” Michael explained.
Elizabeth said she met many men and women in the Canadian Armed Forces when she performed at the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo during her high school years, and was shocked by how young many were.
“Despite their young age, many had already returned from serving in Afghanistan and I felt guilty. As I was going off to university, many were going off to war,” she shared.
READ MORE: Sacrifices honoured at arbouretum’s Walk to Remember
“They had their whole life ahead of them, yet chose to put themselves in harm’s way for a cause they believed in. If they didn’t return, I wanted to make sure their sacrifice would not be forgotten,”Elizabeth added.
With the local connections to the war and their recent losses, brother and sister worked together with their dad to organize fundraisers over the following two years to eventually have the memorial called ‘A Walk to Remember’ built at the Derek Doubleday Arboretum.
“We never thought it would turn into what it is,” Michael commented, now 26 years old.
The walk has two entrances, both start with a type of cedar tree that is native to Afghanistan but can grow in Canada, followed by dozens of maple trees along the path.
“There are three groupings of trees that all represent each solider, and then there’s four tree planted for Canadian civilians as well,” he said.
This time of year, the leaves are yellow and orange, highlighting the trails in a soft glow as it leads visitors to the commemorative structure. There are also benches along the tree-lined path as well.
The memorial itself is symbolic of a tree whose life has been cut short, wrapped in a steel ribbon ascending towards the sky engraved with the names of the fallen 158 Canadians.
“It was the first memorial of its kind in Canada for the war in Afghanistan, and for a long time – I think still to this day – it’s one of the only public locations in Canada where people who have a connection to the conflict can [visit] something that represents their loved ones,” Michael explained.
“There’s not names necessarily attached to each tree, but each of these trees represents a way for the soldiers to live on – that was the idea, that they would be here forever.”
Elizabeth said it’s easy to take our freedoms and quality of life for granted, and forget how different life could be if born in another region in the world.
“The men and women whose names are on the commemorative structure didn’t take freedom for granted, and made the ultimate sacrifice,” commented Elizabeth.
After the official Remembrance Day ceremonies held in Fort Langley, Murrayville, and Aldergrove, Michael said his favourite thing to do is visit the Walk to Remember and see members of the community at the memorial paying their respects.
“Every year we come back, there’s more and more people who also come here after their Remembrance Day ceremonies,” he shared.
He recalled meeting family members of someone who is named on the memorial on an average day throughout the year.
“There’s no official ceremony, but we always encourage and invite people to come down if there’s no space on the cenotaphs for their poppies, there is lots of space here.”
The commemorative structure has some poppies left in it from previous years, some so old they have turned green from the exposure to the elements.
“I think the beauty of having these unofficial ceremonies or having a space like this, gives people more of an opportunity to have a quiet, personal moment… with their [lost] loved one,” Michael commented.
He said it’s important to remember and commemorate the people who sacrificed their lives to protect our freedoms and rights.
“We need these events, we need these celebrations, so the next generations don’t take for granted what we have,” Michael said.
“We think it’s important to have memorials like ‘A Walk to Remember’ as a way to pay our respects, both to the fallen and the families they left behind,” Elizabeth concluded.
The siblings manage a Facebook page called ‘Langley Youth for the Fallen: A Walk to Remember’ to keep discussions active on remembrance year-round.
Details for the three official ceremonies in Langley Township for Remembrance Day, Saturday, Nov. 11, can be found at tol.ca.
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