November 11, 2021
By: Adam Reeson
On the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month – we pause to remember.
We remember our Grandfathers and Great-Grandfathers who gave the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our freedom in Canada. We remember them by wearing poppies, attending ceremonies and by building monuments.
As a monument builder, we wanted to take a moment to talk about Headstones for Veterans in Canada:
Public Monuments for Veterans
Nearly every major community in Canada has some kind of permanent memorial to honour its Veterans.
The Regina Cenotaph was built in 1926 to honour soldiers who died during the Great War. Like most Veteran’s memorials, the Regina Cenotaph was built from Barre Grey – a world-class granite which is quarried in Vermont.
The monument was re-dedicated in 1990 to honour Veterans of WW2 and the Korean War. Recently, the Regina Cenotaph was also inscribed to honour Veterans of the war in Afghanistan.
Personal Headstones for Veterans
Similar to public monument for Vetertans in Canada, most personal headstones for our soldiers are also crafted from grey granite. Until recently, Veteran’s families in Regina could choose from Quebec-quarried Standstead Grey – or Vermont- quarried Barre Grey.
Today, the City of Regina’s cemetery bylaw allow only Light Barre Grey granite. This is a welcome change, as Light Barre is the absolute best quality grey granite available to memorialize our Veterans.
Personal Remembrance
I’ll never forget attending a Remembrance Day ceremony as a kid with my Grandfather, Dr. Gordon Schwann.
He enlisted and trained as an RCAF Pilot, but the war was over before he ever saw any “action”.
As a kid, when I asked, why aren’t you down there with the other Veterans?”
He winked and said, “I forgot how to march.”
Humble words from a man who was prepared to fight, but knew that the real heroes were the boys who never made it back home.
For Frontier Monuments, I’m Adam Reeson.
