The Billy Bishop Home and Museum has a new exhibit featuring Canadian veterans of the war in Afghanistan.
It’s called Ground Truth: Stories of Canada’s War In Afghanistan, and features stories and mementos from about ten veterans so far, many of whom have a local connection to the area.
Museum Director and Chief Curator Emily Jolliffe says the idea came from previously working with local veterans in the Honouring Our Local Veterans annual exhibit.
“I realized they had a ton of their own personal objects from tours that they had done,” says Jolliffe, noting as the Taliban began to take over Afghanistan last summer, more veterans began to talk about their time serving in that country.
She explains, “I thought that it would be a good idea to reach out to my networks and see if anybody would be interested in being interviewed about their time in Afghanistan and kind of see how they feel now after over ten years have gone by for a lot of them. It still seems to be top of mind and relevant. I think some of them just want to make sure that people don’t forget that was a war, and that many Canadians died in that war and it changed a lot of their lives forever.”
The exhibit has a large map of Kandahar Province on the wall, which Jolliffe says a veteran recommended they include, as well as other maps. “They’re real operational maps that were used during Operation Medusa and Athena…so the maps on the wall are actual artifacts too,” says Jolliffe.
The exhibit also features a video interview component that can be watched online or by scanning a QR code at the museum. They include interviews with veterans Alex Ruff, Travis Kelley, Fraser Penny, Patrick Moran, Ross Moore, Steve Lehman, Roger Wheron, Cameron Bruce, Allan Johnson, and Carol and Bob Mitchell, whose son Cpl. Robert Mitchell of Owen Sound was killed in Afghanistan.
The museum is still looking to expand the exhibit with more stories from veterans of the war in Afghanistan. Those who would like to share their stories can contact Emily Jolliffe at ejolliffe@billybishop.org
Canada had soldiers in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. Over 40,000 members of the Canadian Armed Forces served there over that span of time. It was Canada’s largest military deployment since WWII. 158 CAF members died and one Canadian diplomat died.
Jolliffe recommends giving yourself half an hour to tour the exhibit, but notes a person could certainly spend much longer in the exhibit if they were to read everything or watch some of the videos.
The Billy Bishop Home and Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. seven days a week. Jolliffe says you do not need to call ahead before visiting.
