Above: Morinville Museum attendant Donna Garrett holds the June 6, 1944 edition of the Ottawa Citizen, part of the museum’s D-Day exhibit. – Stephen Dafoe Photo
by Stephen Dafoe
June 6 marks the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the invasion that began the liberation of German-occupied France from the Nazi during World War II.
The Musée Morinville Museum will be commemorating that watershed event with Remembering D-Day, a locally produced exhibit of artifacts, newspaper clippings and a book of all the Canadians who were killed during D-Day. One of the artifacts is an inspirational message from Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces signed by US President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
“It’s not going to be a huge exhibit, but it is going to be very personal,” said Musée Morinville Museum attendant Donna Garrett, adding that as she curated the exhibit she was surprised by the age of some of those who died. “You’re looking at 18, 19, 21. They are just so, so young.”
The exhibit runs the week of June 6, and Garret is planning to show some of the items again this fall during Veterans’ Week.
“I think just to honour these men and women who died for our country, and to see their name in print, see where they’re from, their ages,” Garrett said. “They’re real. They were real people who died serving their country.”
The Musée Morinville Museum is open Wednesday through Saturday from noon until 5 p.m. It is located in the back of St. Jean Baptiste Park in downtown Morinville.
