Thunder Bay, Ontario
A Second World War veteran of the Navy, Mr. MacAskill is past President and currently director of the Thunder Bay Naval Officers Association; Chairman of the Board of the Thunder Bay Military Museum; and he is also Area Vice President for North Western Ontario and Manitoba of the Royal Canadian Naval Association. Mr. MacAskill has devoted more than 36 years of his time to the remembrance of Naval veterans. He has chaired numerous committees which raised funds to design, construct, and erect memorials in Thunder Bay and abroad. One of these memorials is the beautiful amethyst monument located at HMCS Griffon. This memorial, dedicated during the Centennial Year in 1967, was erected in memory of the men who enlisted at the Lakehead Naval Barracks and gave their lives during the Second World War. Other remembrance projects Mr. MacAskill has chaired include the addition of a water fountain as a new feature of the Anchorage Memorial site at Marina Park, Thunder Bay; and the Arch of Service located at the Main Gate to HMCS Griffon, which is dedicated to all who served in peace and war on the HMCS Griffon. As Chairman of the Task Force for a memorial in Oostende, Belgium, Mr. MacAskill oversaw the project to erect an eight-foot Memorial which was dedicated to the memory of 26 Canadians and 35 British Royal Navy Sailors of the 29th Canadian Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla who lost their lives in a tragic fire on February 14, 1945. In addition to his achievements in commemorating the sacrifice of Naval veterans, Mr. MacAskill continues to write articles and archive documents as a means of preserving Canada's naval heritage.