Artillery tank outside Royal Canadian Legion

CORNWALL – The Royal Canadian Legion in Cornwall now has a military tank adorning its property at Cumberland Street and Second Street West.

A large truck delivered the decommissioned piece Tuesday afternoon.

RCL Branch 297 Third Vice President Hugh Primeau Jr. tells Cornwall Newswatch the request for a military piece was almost three years in the making.

“It was kind of spit-balled around the table. Do we want a monument? Do we want an armoured personnel carrier in our parking lot. And it’s just the luck of the draw we ended up with an artillery piece,” Primeau said.

“It was decommissioned and it’s no longer useful but it is still an artillery piece and we are kind of close to the American government,” he said, suggesting the Canadian government had to make sure nobody wanted to buy the tank before giving it away.

“For the longest time it was always just the Legion. But now you can actually see it’s an ex-service club. Our mandate is, we always take care of our veterans and now it’s going to show that we are an ex-service club. We have a whole new stock of veterans that need to be taken care of,” Primeau said.

Primeau says they plan to have a dedication ceremony and a plaque at the tank site once the weather is warmer.

“It’s just going to show the people that now we can say ‘Come down to the Legion.’ and they’re going to say ‘Well, where is it?’…’Can’t miss it. We’re the one with the tank out front.”