Veritas Article by Dennis Apedaile, updated 12 August 2009

RMC’s New Wall of Honour

The Arch and The Wall

RMC’s Memorial Arch, dedicated in 1924, was built to honour RMC Ex-Cadets who died in battle. It was stimulated by the terrible losses of the First World War, but it included Ex-Cadets from before the First World War and thereafter. It is a dramatic memorial that has become one of the leading images of RMC and what the College stands for – and continues as the place where fallen Ex-Cadets are honoured.

Until this year, there has been no matching public, visible way of recognizing and promoting those Ex-Cadets who have achieved great things outside of battle – outstanding contributions at the national or international level that deserve recognition on the grounds of their alma mater. The Wall of Honour, proposed and being built by the Class of 1963, will fill that gap.

It is an exciting project that is being built along the soon to be renovated Verité Drive that runs from behind the Commandant’s House up the pedestrian overpass at Highway 2 leading to the Sports Centre.

The Wall of Honour will be built of stone, six foot ten inches high and 40 meters long. As honorees are chosen – usually, perhaps two or three a year – plaques with their names and a brief citation will be placed along both sides of the Wall, where cadets will see them every day on their way to and from the Sports Centre.

The Wall will become part of the permanent, visible fabric of RMC. A description, plus sketches, can be seen at http://www.rmc.ca/cam/wh-mh/index-eng.asp

The Wall will be dedicated, with its initial honorees, during Reunion Weekend 2009.

Gift of the Class of 63

A fairly normal tradition among RMC classes has been to make some sort of gift to the College and to usually present that gift when the Class joins the Old Brigade. Like other classes, the Class of '63 had many conversations about what they might choose as their gift to RMC in 2009. After many years of searching, including a formal survey of Class members, the Wall proposal finally emerged. This idea found immediate resonance with the Class and an organizing group went to work.

The Wall itself has been designed; the College and the Foundation have been consulted; a location has been discussed and decided upon; construction plans have been developed; a selection protocol has been developed; an electronic registry and information site has been developed and integrated with related sites – RMC, RMC Club and RMC Club Foundation – and existing Class funds are being topped up substantially to pay for construction and operational costs over the first 10 years.

The Class financial contribution to this project will be $305,000. A fundraising campaign began in October 2008 will continue in the Spring of 2009, with donations being channeled through the RMC Club Foundation. The Class is confident it will meet its financial objective.

Strong support from the College

The Commandant has embraced the Wall of Honour concept, likening it to the Memorial Arch as an important part of the RMC heritage and a physical presence on Point Frederick. RMC staff members have been actively involved in finding a suitable site, with high cadet traffic, supporting construction plans for DND review, liaising on integrating the Wall of Honour web site with the RMC site, and preparing to publicize the Wall.

The approach to the College stressed that the Wall of Honour would offer inspiration to cadets into the future and would help promote the essence of RMC throughout Canada.

Selection criteria and Process

A cornerstone of the project is establishment and maintenance of the highest standards, both in process and in selected nominees. Consultation helped create a set of sound criteria in which a Nomination Committee would receive and seek out suitable nominations and develop profiles on each to forward to the Selection Board, which would review and select individuals to be honoured.

The selection criteria have been posted on the RMC Club website. Basically candidates must have a regular or other form of College number, they must have achieved something of extraordinary significance at the national or international level, and they must reflect the qualities of Truth, Duty and Valour in their personal and professional lives. For other details, please see the RMC Club website.

Initially, the Nomination Committee is chaired by Mike Morres with the following members: F. William Johnson, Ross McKenzie, Sege Morin, and LGen Gervais.  The Selection Board is chaired by Peter Watson with the following members: General Rick Hillier, Ken Smee, BGen Tom J. Lawson, and LCol Douglas E. Delaney. Each is being chaired, initially, by a member of the Class of '63, and includes wise and respected individuals from across Canada.

Administrative needs, including provision of plaques for honorees, are initially being coordinated by the Class of '63.

Once the Wall is erected, with the selection philosophy and process firmly established, the Class of '63 will hand off responsibility to another, younger Class to be named.

Dedication of the Wall

The Wall will be built during late August and September 2009 and will be officially unveiled, with its first honorees, during Reunion Weekend 2009, at a time still to be determined. That information will be available on the Club web site, www.rmcclub.ca, under the RMC Reunion link from the home page.

If you would like to nominate someone, please complete a nomination form (follow the link on the RMC Club website). For further information about the Wall, feel free to contact any of the Class of 1963 representatives shown below.

Mike Morres                (250) 592-8897           mfmorres@telus.net
Peter Watson               (780)  421-9455          peter@peterdwatson.ca
Jacques Duval              (819) 573-2103           jacduval5629@#videotron.ca    
Jim McNeill                  (312)  927-1463          jmcneill@datalogics.com
Dennis Apedaile           (403) 220-0144           mdapedaile@shaw.ca
Tom Gee                      (250) 495-7803           tomgee@persona.ca
Ted Davie                    (613) 373-0115           tediane@king.iqs.net
Art Hunter                   (613) 692-1848           arthunter@gmail.com
Robbie Laird               (905) 299-5912            robbie.laird@c3group.com
Scott Clements             (403)  614-9045           gsclements@shaw.ca

TDV