This memorial is dedicated to those who died in the service of their country. It was erected by the Millennium Monument Project Committee. The monument was officially unveiled by local MPP Sean Conway and Bernadette Plebon, a Barry's Bay resident who lost a brother during fighting overseas. Aldon Kosinski, who fought in the Polish Army during the Second World War, was a participant in the ceremony. He is a citizen of Wilno, but is a native of France who just returned from visiting the beaches of Normandy - home to the famous fighting of 1944.
Mr. Kosinski laid a wreath on behalf of men serving in wartime over the centuries. Lucy Jefferis of Barry's Bay laid a wreath for women in the military service. Municipal representatives and students from Sherwood Public School, Killaloe Public, Madawaska Valley District High and St. Mary's laid wreaths. Amelia Shulist, whose grandfather Alex survived the Second World War fighting, read a poem written by Bill Foster of Barry's Bay. It read:
We left this land we love And now will see no more, In answer to our country's call, To fight a foreign war. We gave our precious gift of life, That others might be free. Sleep we now in distant graves Or beneath some restless sea. Through our time forget us not, Or we have died in vain, In passing by, a moment pause, And remember us again.
Excerpts from: Barry's Bay This Week, October 18, 2000.
