WHEEL IS MEMORIAL TO AFGHAN SOLDIERS
POSTED AUG 23, 2012
BY JACK EVANS, CAMPBELLFORD EMC
Symbol of one of mankind's most brilliant ideas, a special wheel is now serving as a memorial to Canadian soldiers who served in Afghanistan.
The wheel is a heavy duty part of a Canadian military engineering vehicle called a "Badger," which was destroyed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.
The Badger is a specialized engineering vehicle mounted on a Leopard tank chassis, explained John Sherry, who, as director of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment Military Museum has arranged for the museum to borrow the relic for a few weeks.
Even with parts of it obviously blown away, the large, solid wheel weighs more than 400 pounds, said Sherry.
Sherry came across the display wheel shown by a wheels group transportation company in a gathering at Montreal and learned the display was being used to help raise funds for military personnel suffering post traumatic distress syndrome.
The incredibly battered wheel comes with photos of the vehicle it was once on along with information that at least one soldier is believed to have perished in the incident.
Since taking over care of the wheel, one of the museum's volunteers has built a special display cabinet and stand for it while it is being circulated around various Legion branches in the Quinte area for one week each.
The wheel has already been at Legions across Prince Edward County and Trenton and came to Stirling Legion last Thursday. It next moves to Tweed and perhaps other branches such as Madoc, Bancroft and Deseronto, said Sherry.
"We'll have it back for display during our annual Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment reunion on the Thanksgiving holiday weekend," he said, before the museum will send it back to the wheels group.
He also expects it will be among the displays during the annual Warriors Day Weekend at Coe Hill September 1 and 2.
Started several years ago, that weekend sees one of the largest parades of World War II vintage machines in Ontario, plus other memorabilia, re-enactments and veteran gatherings.
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The wheel is a heavy duty part of a Canadian military engineering vehicle called a "Badger," which was destroyed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.
The Badger is a specialized engineering vehicle mounted on a Leopard tank chassis, explained John Sherry, who, as director of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment Military Museum has arranged for the museum to borrow the relic for a few weeks.
Even with parts of it obviously blown away, the large, solid wheel weighs more than 400 pounds, said Sherry.
Sherry came across the display wheel shown by a wheels group transportation company in a gathering at Montreal and learned the display was being used to help raise funds for military personnel suffering post traumatic distress syndrome.
The incredibly battered wheel comes with photos of the vehicle it was once on along with information that at least one soldier is believed to have perished in the incident.
Since taking over care of the wheel, one of the museum's volunteers has built a special display cabinet and stand for it while it is being circulated around various Legion branches in the Quinte area for one week each.
The wheel has already been at Legions across Prince Edward County and Trenton and came to Stirling Legion last Thursday. It next moves to Tweed and perhaps other branches such as Madoc, Bancroft and Deseronto, said Sherry.
"We'll have it back for display during our annual Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment reunion on the Thanksgiving holiday weekend," he said, before the museum will send it back to the wheels group.
He also expects it will be among the displays during the annual Warriors Day Weekend at Coe Hill September 1 and 2.
Started several years ago, that weekend sees one of the largest parades of World War II vintage machines in Ontario, plus other memorabilia, re-enactments and veteran gatherings.
Full Article