Near
the centre of the older part of the village of Rockland stands its City
Hall. Next to this fine old two-storey Victorian building is the
modern day care centre,
Le Carrousel,
in front of which is a play ground where the excited screams of
toddlers are often heard throughout weekdays. In fact, those
sounds of youthful delight adjacent to the very tangible symbol of
community-based democracy and freedom serve as a fitting backdrop for a
modest pink granite monument on which are inscribed the names, dates of
death and ages at death of the young soldiers and airmen from this
small community who left their homes in the 1940's, never to return to
their loved-ones, but to die in distant lands fighting for the very
freedoms that are enjoyed today all around that stark marker.
On either side of the monument are the flags that they would both be so
proud of : the red maple leaf of Canada, the red ensign of Ontario, the
banner of the municipality of Rockland and the Franco-Ontario flag that
embodies the survival of their culture in a changing world.
The names of those who made the ultimate sacrifice are listed in the
order in which they died. François Roland Pilon's name is
second from the top and his cousin Bernard Gaston Pilon, who was the
last from Rockland to lay down his life, is found at the bottom of the
stone column.
Their sacrifice and the gift they gave us all will not be forgotten
even though the memory of their
time amongst the living fades with the passing years.