New monument commemorates Hamilton soldiers in Afghan War
Four named on memorial in Mount Hope
For almost ten years, Bev McCraw has kept a small tin of desert sand safely tucked away inside her Hamilton home.
McCraw, the mother of Sgt. Shawn Eades, CD, collected it during a trip to Afghanistan in 2008, just after her son was killed by a roadside bomb.
McCraw says she had no idea what, if anything, she would do with it — only that she felt compelled to bring a piece of the place where her son died back to Canada. So, before journeying home, McCraw scooped a few handfuls of sand into an empty peanut tin — covered in Arabic text, save for the “Planters” logo — wrapped it in packing tape, and stashed it in her suitcase.
On Saturday, that sand became part of a new monument honouring Eades and three other Hamilton soldiers who died during the Afghanistan war — Pte. Mark Anthony Graham, Maj. Raymond Mark Ruckpaul, and Cpl. Justin Matthew Stark.
Graham was killed in a friendly fire incident near Kandahar in 2006, Ruckpaul died from a selfinflicted gunshot wound in Kabul in 2007 and Stark died by suicide in Hamilton in 2011, 10 months after returning from Afghanistan. Canadian troops were in that country from 2002-2014.
The monument, unveiled at a ceremony Saturday at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, is a demilitarized LAV III armoured vehicle — the same type of vehicle Eades was in when he was killed.
“It means a lot to me, for the simple reason that Shawn was killed in a LAV,” said McCraw. “I miss him every day. He was so much of our lives, and now he’s gone. He left behind a wife and three little girls, so it’s been hard on all of us.”
During a dedication ceremony Saturday morning, the sand from McCraw’s trip to Afghanistan was poured into a container that will be permanently sealed at the monument’s foot. The ceremony drew community members, military personnel, and officials including MP Bob Bratina, MP David Christopherson, MPPs Paul Miller and Monique Taylor, Mayor Fred Eisenberger, and councillors Donna Skelly and Brenda Johnson.
One of the most notable groups who attended the ceremony was the North Wall Riders Association, a group of motorcycle riders dedicated to supporting veterans and the military. The group — which turned out in full force wearing leather vests and red Tshirts — spearheaded the fundraising effort to create a permanent monument to the Afghanistan war in Hamilton. Keven Ellis, the president of the Steel City North Wall Riders Association, says the project was two-and-ahalf years in the making. To Ellis, it was a true labour of love.
“My entire family served in the military, right back to the 1700s in England ... I’ve spent the rest of my life remembering those that have served.”