Monument to honour Brenden MacDonald

Ceremony will be held on July 16 at Carmichael Park in New Glasgow

When Dan Hennessey received a picture from Brenden MacDonald’s family, he couldn’t help but feel the weight of their loss.

The image showed one of MacDonald’s three young sons lying on top of his gravestone.

MacDonald, born and raised in New Glasgow, was a captain in the Royal Candian Air Force. He died when the CH-148 Cyclone helicopter he was flying crashed during a military exercise in the Ionian Sea on April 29, 2020.

“That is such a powerful image of the son that will never hear his father’s voice again, will never feel his touch,” Hennessey said. “It’s near and dear to my heart.”

Hennessey lost his own father when he was just six years old.

“I don’t remember what he sounded like, what he smelled like, what he felt like when he touched me. Nothing.”

It’s partly because of that, that Hennessey believes it’s important that the sacrifices of men like MacDonald aren’t forgotten.

Hennessey is honorary colonel of 14 Construction Engineering Squadron, 14 Wing Greenwood, and has been involved with many memorials in the past. He helped coordinate several monument placements in honour of several Nova Scotians killed in Afghanistan. The plaques for these memorials were provided by CP Rail.

When the Cyclone crash happened just over two years ago, Hennessey felt something should be done to honour these military members, so he reached out to CP Rail to see if they’d be willing to develop plaques to honour those who perished.

“Within minutes, they said yes, absolutely,” Hennessey said. “It was incredible.”

Those plaques were presented to family members of those killed during a ceremony in 2021 at the 12 Wing in Shearwater.

Earlier this year, a family member got in touch with Hennessey again and let him know that the family and Town of New Glasgow would like to place a monument in Carmichael Park in New Glasgow and wondered, given his background, if he’d be able to help co-ordinate.

Hennessey was quick to jump on the opportunity and now has an extensive ceremony planned to unveil the monument built by Arsenault Monuments, including the CP Rail donated plaque.

The ceremony is set to take place on July 16 at 11 a.m. and will involve representatives of both the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force, the MacDonald family, municipal, provincial and federal elected officials, plus the residents of New Glasgow and Pictou County. Singer Terry Kelly will perform several songs, including Pittance of Time, Portraits of Honour and No Sky Too High.

Hennessey said the town of New Glasgow has been great to work with through the whole process.

He hopes that at the end of the day, the monument will serve as a constant reminder to people of MacDonald’s sacrifice and a place of solace for his family.

This is an opportunity to at least give families an object so they can stop by when they want,” he said.

New Glasgow Mayor Nancy Dicks said they are grateful for Hennessey’s work organizing the event.

Dicks knew MacDonald as a youth and could see how much the military was part of his life, even from a young age. Early on as a cadet, she said he displayed a dedication and commitment to what it stood for.

She believes honouring him with this monument is only appropriate.

“We’re very happy that this is happening and we hope his family feels the support of the community.”

She believes Carmichael Park, where New Glasgow’s annual Remembrance Day services are held, is a perfect place for the monument. In addition to the monument, the town will be planting a tree at the site in honour of MacDonald.