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To the air force, it represents the invaluable contribution made by its support staff throughout the years: the janitors, food services and mechanical personnel who helped lift RCAF pilots into flight.
But to Ile des Chenes artist David Laliberte, who was commissioned to sculpt the nine-foot mounted steel eagle and hands, the final product represents something more personal.
"My mother's coming to the unveiling because in a way I'm dedicating this to her," Laliberte, a self-described jack-of-all-trades, said. "I had a teacher who said 'Don't send him to college, he's a waste of money,' but my mother had more faith in me than the teachers did, she knew I wasn't a waste of money."
So, as a result of his mom's support, he went to college, took technical training and worked as a welder for 27 years.
During that time, he formulated and polished the unique steel sculpting skills he uses to create his pieces.
He says his artistic work over the past ten years has seen him creating gifts for friends as more of a hobby than an actual job, but always, in the back of his mind, he has wanted to devote more time to his art.
So, when he was asked to do a commissioned work for the RCAF this spring, Laliberte jumped at the chance.
"They asked me if I could do it and I said 'Yes, sure'," he said. "I didn't even think about the work involved."
"That's the way I've always been: I don't believe anything's impossible, you just have to find a way to do it."
Since July 17 when he started the sculpture, Laliberte has spent about $1,500 on steel and has worked on perfecting the final product for more than 500 hours.
He hopes one day to make a full-time career out of his artistic ability but until that moment, he's content to trust his destiny to a higher source.
"Now I don't know where it's going to take me," Laliberte said. "I trust in God that he's going to lead me down the right path."
Cpt. Daniel Lachance of Canadian Forces Base Winnipeg explained the sculptured eagle and hands, mounted on a cement rock, was unveiled Sept. 17 and will be part of the air force heritage park on Sharp Boulevard in the city.
Lachance said the planes on display at the park credit those in the front lines during the wars and Laliberte's statue pays tribute to all those who worked behind the scenes during and after war time.
"If you think about war films, you always see the glamorous pilots taking off in their aircraft and they're the ones doig the shootine and getting the medals and all the honors...but this aircraft just doesn't work for itself," he said. "For every pilot, there's probably about 15 guys working around the aircraft to make it fly and somebody has to take care fo the air crew as far as food is concerned and transportation and accommodation.
"This is what we mean by support personnel, all of those who are working in the shadow of the air crew."
Cpt. Lachance said the unveiling of the statue was a success, and many of the 400 people who showed up for the occasion expressed their approval of Laliberte's work.
"It was really fantastic," Lachance remembered. "All we heard was good comments."
- by Tanis Baker, published in The Carillon, Wednesday, September 29, 1993, Steinbach, Manitoba
Last modified: November 15, 2003
Images of Dave Laliberte's sculpture are ©1997-2000 Dave Laliberte
All other text, sounds, graphics and files at this site are ©1997-2000 Lorne Laliberte (lorne@cdnwriter.com)