By Bryan Eneas

P.A. greets Wounded Warriors before their special weekend

Jul 29, 2016 | 7:34 AM

A group of people who routinely put their lives on the line were welcomed with open, albeit soggy arms into Prince Albert yesterday.

Veterans from all across Canada, and even the United States, were part of a special motorcade procession in honour of Wounded Warriors Weekend. Not even a torrential downpour could dampen the spirits of all those aboard.

“There’s so many people who went to Afghanistan and Bosnia and Croatia and the Second World War, many places. They’ve been so damaged mentally, not just physically, but mentally because of the atrocious things that they’ve seen,” Clara Wiberg said.

Wiberg’s husband was a war vet who recently passed away. She said the Warriors’ cause is very dear to her heart, and she often wonders what kind of support he could have received if he was still alive today.

“My husband was a prisoner of war. He lived it all of his life, and they live it every day,” Wiberg said.

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Representing the Legion from Paddockwood, Wiberg is the secretary treasurer of the division. She said the Wounded Warriors and Canadian Legions are important even today because they work hard to help those who are struggling.

“They don’t have the support from the country, the government, to look after them. To get into nursing homes, to get into veterans homes, to get mental help, to get anything. It’s very difficult,” Wiberg said.

“I don’t know how to tell you the damage it does to a person to go to war,” Wiberg said. “I know how my husband suffered. We didn’t have as many things for them back in those days as we did now. There was no such thing as the (service) dogs, or the Wounded Warriors Association.”

Wiberg felt the Warrior’s most important cause was funding for service animals. She explained a properly trained dog can cost upwards of $5,000.     

Warriors from across North America and around the world continued their journey on to Nipawin led by the P.A. Police department, as well as supporters of the Wounded Warriors.

“It’s my duty to support them because they risked their life so I can live my life freely,” Wiberg said. “It’s in me, I just have to do it, because they all need our support,” Wiberg said. I cannot fathom what they went through.”

Bryan.Eneas@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @BryanEneas