Bridge honouring Canadian soldier reopens at CFB Gagetown
Soldiers at CFB Gagetown will once again be driving over a bridge named after the first Canadian to die serving during the United Nation's peacekeeping operation in Croatia.
The Sergeant Ralph Bridge reopened Saturday during a ceremony at the New Brunswick base's training area. The structure honours Sgt. Cornelius Michael Ralph, a combat engineer who died in 1992 while serving during the civil war in former Yugoslavia.
His widow, Lorraine Ralph, known to friends as "Charlie," said the bridge will teach a lesson to future combat engineers.
"It shows them that they mean something. To the community, to everyone. Knowing that they put this up out of love, it just fills my heart right up."
Way to remember, honour solider
Ralph said the bridge would have meant a lot to her husband, who she was married to for nine years.
"Even though he would've been embarrassed because Mike wasn't somebody that put himself forward and had to have attention. He would've done this for the boys but he'd never expected it to be done to him," she said.
The monument will serve as something tangible that will always be there to remember him, she said.
Cornelius Michael Ralph was part of Operation Harmony, which ensured the demilitarisation of protected areas in Croatia. He was killed while clearing a United Nations patrol route.
"Somebody else was supposed to move the truck but Mike told them to stay where they were. As he moved it forward, there were several mines underneath the ground they didn't see. It blew his truck and killed Mike." said B.J. Carrigan, a captain with the 37 Combat Engineer Regiment.
Ralph worked in 'most professional way'
Carrigan served with Ralph for almost 20 years and described him as a kind, gentle man.
"He loved being an engineer, he loved being a soldier and serving his country. And he did it in the most professional way that anybody could ever do it."
Carrigan said it is important to honour Ralph and others who die as a result of violence in the world.
"It's important for his family, for his grandkids to know that their grandfather and their father and Charlie's husband was an outstanding soldier. And that we should never forget him," he said.
Bridge reconstructed
Initially the bridge was built in 1994 but it recently underwent major renovations.
The 60-metre-long, 10-metre wide bridge was reconstructed to support the weight of heavy armoured vehicles as they cross the Nerepis River in a training area at Gagetown. The reconstruction project cost $3.5 million.
The bridge isn't the only monument to Ralph. A 1.5-metre-high concrete cairn in Daruvar, Croatia bears a bronze plaque explaining his death.
