Members of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 288 and local volunteers gathered Sunday at the LAV III Monument near the Nose Creek Valley Museum to erect 158 white crosses, each bearing the name of a Canadian Armed Forces member killed during Canada’s mission in Afghanistan. Bob McNevin, past president of the Airdrie Legion and co-founder of the LAV Monument, said every cross includes a dog tag prepared by co-founder Dianne Kuhn. “Today, we’re putting up the 158 crosses for the 158 people who passed away,” McNevin said. “Each cross is going to have the dog tag on it, which Diane put together. It’s got the soldier’s name, his unit, a picture of him, and it’s going to be set on each one of the white cross.” When asked why it's so important to continue such traditions and to erect these commemorative crosses, McNevin summed it up in one word: remembrance. "... The children, for the kids. They need to learn; we don't teach at school anymore, so it's our job to carry on the legacy.... We still have to carry that torch along." Kuhn, a retired military wife and mother, said the LAV display helps keep the human cost of that war visible to the community. “My husband was over there [in Afghanistan] for a full year,” she said. “He left in January and came back in December. I sit back and I look at it, and I go, one of these could have been my husband. Somebody lost a mother or a father, they lost a husband, they lost a dad. I am grateful that my husband did come home alive. Yes, he came home injured, but he came home alive.” Organizers erected four crosses set slightly apart to commemorate the four Canadian soldiers killed in a friendly-fire incident on April 17, 2002, when a U.S. F-16 fighter jet mistakenly bombed them during a night-training exercise near Kandahar. Both McNevin and Kuhn said remembrance also means acknowledging invisible wounds. "A lot of the serving members that did come back, you don't see their injuries; their injuries are deep down inside," Kuhn said. McNevin echoed that sentiment, saying that while attitudes towards mental health both inside the military and veterans groups have changed, it does have a lasting and profound impact. " I would say the 60s and 70s, we weren't allowed to talk about that. In our society at that time, you hushed it and hid it. We have more veterans and first responders committing suicide each day... You [were] always taught to be a big boy, suck it up. You put it away in our filing cabinet, in the back of your head. But unfortunately, somebody breaks into that, and it opens up." The crosses will remain in place leading up to Remembrance Day as part of Branch 288’s ongoing effort to honour those who served and to teach younger generations about the legacy of Canada’s military. Sign up to get the latest local news headlines delivered directly to your inbox every afternoon. Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@discoverairdrie.com. You can also message and follow us on Twitter: @AIR1061FM. DiscoverAirdrie encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the DiscoverAirdrie app. To hear more on this story and others, stream us live here.