ESTEVAN, MOOSE JAW - The 75th anniversary of the tragic crash at the former Estevan Airport site, which took the lives of 20 returning home airmen and one groundscrewman, will take place in Moose Jaw this year.
The tribute events are slated for Sept. 15. The ceremony is by invitation only and is planned to be live-streamed on the Moose Jaw MFRC Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/mfrc.moosejaw/).
Lester Hinzman, the owner of the Forever in the Clouds monument that pays tribute to the men who lost lives in the 1946 tragedy, said that only 25 people will be present at the ceremony. Hinzman will drive up to Moose Jaw on that day with a few other local people joining him for the event.
The ceremony is slated for 1:30 p.m. and will last for about 30 minutes. Marie Calder, an Estevan writer who recently published a book named Together Forever in the Clouds, will read the names of the 21 men that died on that day 75 years ago.
The organizational process started as early as July 1. Since then plans have changed a few times until finally, it was decided to have the ceremony in Moose Jaw. The final details were pending at the press-time.
Besides the ceremony, Hinzman also plans on donating the Forever in the Clouds monument to the Royal Canadian Air Force base at 15 Wing Moose Jaw. He believes that will be a better home for the carved sculpture than his property.
"I enjoy having people come down there. But you stop and think if it's there (at the air force base in Moose Jaw), how many people are coming to the base, you have all those airmen, you got all kinds of NATO pilots coming in," Hinzman said.
He added that he's already spoken with the base and hopes to move the monument there as soon as the groundwork is done and they are ready to assemble it at the new location.
"A brigadier general … said that he wants to put it out at a certain place where every time that an air force guy comes by they've got to salute it," Hinzman said.
Forever in the Clouds was completed in 2018. The faces of each of the victims of the plane crash were carved by chainsaw sculptor Darren Jones of Rimbey, Alta. There is one additional face to pay tribute to all airmen who have perished in combat, a concept similar to that of the Unknown Soldier.
Over the past few years, it's been splitting its time between the Estevan Regional Airport and Hinzman's property, located about three kilometres away from the crash site.
In 2021, it returned to Hinzman's yard for some touch-ups and refurbishment.
