Korea Veterans National Wall of Remembrance
Section 1
Meadowvale Cemetery, Brampton
The Korean Veterans National Wall of Remembrance came about as the result of three years of hard work and fundraising by the Veterans of Korea Veterans Association (KVA) Unit 57 (Mississauga). A small unit, yet still they were able to raise the $300,000 needed for the memorial. The idea for the memorial arose out of the concern of a couple of the Unit’s officers that there was no lasting memorial, nor was one contemplated, to commemorate the sacrifices made by Canadians in the Korean War. These Canadians were buried in a cemetery in Pusan, Korea, and Yokohama, Japan, because it was not until modern times that countries started repatriating their military dead. A Wall Committee consisting of co-founders Bill Allan (Lot 668) and George Mannion (Lot 673), along with Len Pelletier (Lot 677), Ben Mathers, and Don Williams of Unit 57, and also Dave Davidson, Don Flieger, Sam Carr and Clyde Bougie (Lot 666), one of the KVA founder members. The design and landscaping for the Wall was done by the Development Division of Mount Pleasant Group, who owns and operates Meadowvale Cemetery, working from a concept presented by the Committee. The Wall is approximately 200 feet long, and gentle curved to conform to the surrounding landscape. Two feet high, the Wall slopes gently at 50 degrees and consists of six sections on one side and seven on the other side of the central piece. Each section contains four rows of ten plaques arranged in alphabetical order; replicas of the 516 grave markers of the Canadians who paid the ultimate sacrifice in Korea. The central portion of the Memorial is a rectangular block flanked by two wings. The block contains the Korea Veterans Association and the United Nations insignia as well as the patches of 25th Brigade and 1st Commonwealth Division. There is a list of all Canadian Units, Corps, Ships and Squadrons that participated in the War and following Peacekeeping period. A poem by Jack LaChance (PPCLI) and a verse from Laurence Binyon’s “For the Fallen” beginning with “They Shall not Grow Old…” appear on the adjacent wings.