“There is a park reserved along Calgary’s Memorial Drive for 3,200 white crosses which are displayed each year on November 1st and removed November 12th. The date coincides with the Calgary Poppy Fund’s annual fundraising campaign and the Canadian Legacy Project’s Veterans Food Drive. Each cross is inscribed with the name, rank, regiment, date of death and age at death of a Southern Alberta soldier killed in action. It is estimated that more than 3,200 Southern Alberta soldiers have been killed in action. Veterans Affairs Canada keeps records of those who died, but not the hometown of the casualty; we welcome volunteers and input from friends and relatives who have lost a loved one from Southern Alberta who was killed in action and is not included in our Field of Crosses. Our wish is that no Southern Alberta soldier who paid the ultimate price for our freedom is ever forgotten.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them…
At sunrise each morning from November 1 to November 11 there is a flag raising ceremony at the Field of Crosses including a bugler and a piper. At sunset the flags are lowered.
Members of the public are welcome at these ceremonies or to visit the site at any time, to walk among the crosses, to lay flowers at a loved one’s memorial or to be reminded that the price of the freedom we enjoy was not free. Public parking is available at the west end of the park.
The memorial project is an initiative of the McCann Family Foundation in association with the Calgary Poppy Fund and numerous volunteers.” Field of Crosses Memorial Project, www.fieldofcrosses.com