Naval Monument Rededicated after 20 Years

THUNDER BAY – The HMCS Griffon is celebrating its 80th Anniversary. As a part of the celebration, a parade and a rededication of the Naval Monument at Thunder Bay’s Marina Park was held on Saturday, October 21, 3017.

Each year there are fewer and fewer veterans of World War Two who are still with us.

The Naval Monument, which was built twenty years ago in Thunder Bay is a place where veterans, and the very active group of veterans who planned and oversaw the building of the monument seek to have people not only today, but into the future remember the efforts and struggles that they overcame in World War Two in order to defeat the tyranny of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.

The role of Canada’s Navy in World War Two, along with that of the Merchant Marine was massive. It is not a well-known fact, but at the end of the Second World War, Canada’ Navy was the third largest in the world.

Ken MacAskill was the chairman of the committee that planned and built the monument.

His reflections are recorded on the twentieth anniversary.

Retired Canadian Navy Rear Admiral Ray Zuliani spoke at the dedication of the monument twenty years ago, and it was his first speaking engagement as Commodore. On Saturday, the now-retired naval officer spoke at the rededication. He reflects on the importance of the monument and on the wishes of the naval veterans to have their efforts remembered.