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Memorial garden offers moment of peace honouring soldiers of St. Vincent’s
The garden, named after Pte. Kevin Kennedy, who was killed fighting in Afghanistan in 2007, is a quiet place to remember everyone who serves their country. Entrance to the Pte. Kevin Kennedy Memorial Garden in St. Vincent’s, with the sign welcoming visitors to the left. The community’s Remembrance Day service is held here. (Adam Walsh/CBC)More…
The garden, named after Pte. Kevin Kennedy, who was killed fighting in Afghanistan in 2007, is a quiet place to remember everyone who serves their country.
More than a decade after his death in Afghanistan, his photo looks out at visitors to the Pte. Kevin Kennedy Memorial Garden in St. Vincent's.
“From the soccer field of St. Lawrence to the battlefield of Kandahar. Oct. 20, 1986 to Apr. 8, 2007,” reads the garden's new sign.
“It's meant to be a nice place to go and have, you know, be at peace and remember everybody who served,” said Verna Hayward.
Hayward is a teacher, deputy mayor of St. Vincent's-St. Stephen's-Peter's River on the Irish Loop, and a member of the Fisherman's Museum committee that set up the garden.
The community's Remembrance Day service is held there, but she said it's a quiet spot for reflection all year round.
‘People are remembering'
Hayward said Kennedy was from St. Lawrence but his mom is from St. Vincent's, and his dad taught there.
“Before he left to go over to Afghanistan he indicated to his uncle that if anything should happen, he wanted to be buried here,” so he is, she said.
Kennedy was 20-years-old when he was killed by a roadside bomb, with five other soldiers, on Easter Sunday in 2007.
“I say to my students, when you look at pictures of people who are at the war memorials at Remembrance Day services, they're all up in years. But most of them were 15, 16 when they went,” said Hayward.
And she said it's no different now than years ago, as Kennedy started his military training a month after his 18th birthday.
Madonna Martin said the museum committee recently discovered another solider from the community, Pte. Francis Femming, died in battle — killed in action during the First World War.
He's honoured in the garden as well as all those lucky enough to come home. Every one “willing to give the ultimate sacrifice,” said the retired teacher and museum committee chair.
“This garden is a special place of honour to our veterans, and it does mean something to a lot of people. So that makes me feel a sense of satisfaction,” she said.
“That people are remembering. They're not forgetting.”
Student Robyn Bishop has found a special connection to Kennedy, after interviewing his mom, Kay Kennedy, and those involved in the garden for a heritage fair project in May.
“How he went over to Afghanistan and he gave his life for people trying to make the world a better place,” said Bishop.
“I thought it was surprising how easily he could just go over and try and help everyone else no matter what it meant for him.”
“I thought he was a really giving person. He was really kind to do stuff like that.”
Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
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