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Right: Michael and Elizabeth Pratt are joined by Township of Langley mayor Jack Froese, as well as Langley MP Mark Warawa and Langley MLA Mary Polak (not shown) in raising a giant Canadian flag during a Remembrance Day ceremony held at the Walk to Remember in the Derek Doubleday Arbouretum. Warawa presented the flag which once flew atop the Peace Tower in Ottawa; Below right: A monument is unveiled which bears the names of all the Canadian servicemen and women, as well as civilians, who have died in the war in Afghanistan, including two Langley soldiers, Master Cpl. Colin Bason and Pte. Garrett Chidley. Miranda GATHERCOLE/ Langley Times
Being the change Michael and Elizabeth Pratt’s vision for an Afghanistan war memorial in Langley comes to fruition on Remembrance Day Miranda Gathercole Times Reporter
Two years after Michael and Elizabeth Pratt approached the Township with an idea for an Afghanistan war memorial, the pair’s vision is finally complete. On Remembrance Day the last of the 158 trees were planted along the Walk to Remember at the Derek Doubleday Arboretum and a new cenotaph was unveiled to pay homage to soldiers and civilians killed on duty in Afghanistan. The site, which was donated by the Township, has been transformed into the largest Afghanistan memorial of its
kind in Canada. For the Pratt siblings — who founded the Langley Youth for the Fallen group to find sponsors for the trees — the project is small in comparison to the sacrifices Canadian soldiers have made. “We are very fortunate to live in a country like Canada and a community like Langley where a project like this can actually happen,” Michael, 15, said. “Elizabeth and I have adopted the Mohandas Gandhi quote, ‘be the change you want to see in the world.’ “The soldiers who have sacrificed their lives have done their part to change the world, and we want to do
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our part as well.” The dedication ceremony on Sunday was accompanied by the Band of the 15th Regiment and a fly past by the Fraser Blues airplane formation team. Many were brought to tears when the memorial structure was finally revealed — a single column, representing a tree with its life cut short, wrapped with a metal ribbon engraved with the names of the fallen. Names include Master Cpl. Colin Bason from Aldergrove, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2007, and Pte. Garrett Chidley from Langley, who was killed on duty in 2009. continued, PAGE 6
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