2023 marks the 80th year of the Battle of Ortona and local organizers are planning a military event to honor the local lives lost.
The executive director of Grande Prairie Veterans Memorial Gardens & Interpretive Centre, Renee Charbonneau says it is crucial to remember people who died and the sacrifices they made.
“We felt it’s very important since so many of our local sons were killed in that battle, that we honor the Italian campaign and that battle and what it meant to our local boys and their families.”
The military show, as Charbonneau refers to as a ‘show and shine’, will showcase vehicles from the 1940s, as well as other events with a wartime theme.
“We have all kinds of the 1940s entertainment planned and stuff for the kids of course because you can’t let the little ones out of it,” she adds.
Charbonneau says she is seeking all kinds of sponsorship such as hotel rooms and fuel as they are planning to bring a loyal Edmonton regiment advisory council and the military museum members to Grande Prairie.
The three-day event is slated to take place from September 8th through 10th at the Veterans Memorial Gardens.