Some 60 volunteers took time this past Saturday to carefully and meticulously clean all of the crosses and memorial signs that are destined this November to pay tribute to some 3,605 Canadian Armed Forces personnel who died serving Canada.

Although thousands of Calgarians will gather throughout the month of November to pay tribute, the work to prepare the Field of Crosses has begun, with many more volunteers needed to help place the crosses in Sunnyside Bank Park along Memorial Drive.

Helping to clean the crosses on Sept. 21, was Field of Crosses board member George Brookman, who said that making the crosses pristine was a matter of paying honour to the fallen.

“While we’re cleaning, they ask us to look at the name and say the name. Maybe just so you remember that every one of these crosses represents someone who gave up his or her life for us,” he said.

“I think everybody does it with a certain amount of reverence or a certain amount of respect for all these folks.”

Brookman said that this year, the Field of Crosses would be adding an additional 100 names to the list of the fallen.

Among the volunteers cleaning the crosses on Sept. 21, was Diane Dallaire, the mother of Private Kevin Dallaire who was killed in Afghanistan serving with Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.

Pte Dallaire was posthumously awarded the sacrifice medal, after he provided cover for his section to reach safety in October 2006.

Diane Dallaire said that her son was known as the silent Frenchman by his friends because he only ever talked when he needed to talk.

“He was very overprotective with his buddies. He put himself aside to help his friends,” Dallaire said.

She said that volunteering alongside the others on Saturday showed that many cared just as much as she did for those who had fallen, including Kevin.

“Everybody reacts differently to a loss, so, each to your own. To me, it’s like walking around and remembering that we have our freedom to date, because this is only half of what we lost through the country. This is only southern Alberta—like the thousands of soldiers we’ve lost for what we enjoy today,” she said.

Volunteers needed, and welcomed every year

Space for the cleaning and storage of the crosses has been provided for the past few years by Parts Canada.

“These people need to be remembered for what they ultimately gave up, which was their lives. I think anything that can keep that in everyone’s minds is an absolute must to do. We all enjoy things they never got a chance to do, so allowing the crosses to come into the building, that’s minor,” said James Danyluk, President of Parts Canada.

“It kind of warms your heart to see these people scrubbing and cleaning and thanking you. See people thanking them for their service. You know, whispering to the cross just gets you emotional.”

He said that he volunteered his firm to take over the storage of the crosses because they had the space to do so. Previously, defence contractor Raytheon provided storage for the crosses.

“I remember my wife going, ‘we need to volunteer, this is really important.’ So that’s how we got our start. My son’s over there, and he was up to my waist back then cleaning crosses. Now he’s 20, and six-foot-two. He’s been doing it every year since and same with my wife,” said Danyluk.

“Every year just it cements that bond even further to see the remembrance, and the people that actually care about it.”

Volunteers, like Diane Dallaire and the Danyluks, are needed every year, said Brookman.

“We need about 1,000 people to do all of this and to do all the work in the field. Of course, bluntly put, and I’m included in this, some of the volunteers are getting a little long in the tooth and are saying, ‘I just can’t do it anymore.’ I mean, there’s some there’s a little bit of pounding and a little bit of heavy work,” Brookman said.

“Like any organization, we want to get young people in just to understand what this is all about and what it means. A part of our purpose is that we never forget, and so it’s so wonderful to see people who are in their teens or their 20s here helping today.”

He said that volunteers can sign up formally to help with the Field of Crosses at www.fieldofcrosses.com, or more informally by phoning the Field of Crosses at (403) 297-0555.