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LETTER: Langley’s Afghanistan war memorial seems fitting place for Nov. 11 ceremony

A local woman expected services at the Derek Doubleday Arboretum memorial
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Sarah Vandergugten expressed disappointment that there was no organized Remembrance Day service at the Afghanistan memorial in the Derek Doubleday Arboretum on Nov. 11.

Dear Editor,

Remembrance Day 2019 was a missed opportunity!

We live in Langley now, so decided to attend the closest ceremony and headed to Derek Doubleday Arboretum’s Afghanistan Memorial. I had another reason. This year’s Silver Cross Mother, Reine Samson Dawe, had four sons, all of whom enlisted. Matthew Dawe died in Afghanistan in 2007, and his name is memorialized on the silvery steel ribbon wrapping the stylized broken tree trunk – along with 157 of his peers.

I thought his family’s sacrifice should be honoured today. It almost wasn’t.

Just before 11 a.m. two silver-haired gentlemen arrived, one carrying a wreath (Allan Richmond and Les Clay).

Somehow there had been no plans for a Remembrance ceremony at this site. These two Langley Rotary Club members took things into their own hands, finding the last available wreath, and leading an informal ceremony. Thank you, Allan and Les!

Sarah Vandergugten, Langley