Lest We Forget: how to honour the lives and sacrifice of veterans

“You can also have the youth of today make up their own cards and just simply say thank you to a veteran. We generally do Remembrance Day fairly well in Canada, but the act of remembrance is a year-long event,” Miller told LNN.

“Back in the day, a piece of paper was your connection with your family back in Canada and sometimes that piece of paper took months to reach you or sometimes it never reached you at all. In today’s technology, sure everyone’s got a cell phone, but you’re deployed overseas, for example in Afghanistan, you might not actually have access to a cell phone or computer for six weeks – so it’s almost like [it was] 100 years ago.”

Miller’s issued a challenge to today’s youth, their family and friends to make their own personal thank-you card for a veteran or current member of the Armed Forces.

“Think of it this way – we have Remembrance Day, coming up is Christmas – how many of these veterans that are in long-term residence would appreciate a thank-you card for Christmas?”

He added another program that’s available is the Valentines for Vets initiative, where veterans receive special Valentine’s Day cards in February.

Hand-made cards for both of these programs can be dropped off in-person at the Lethbridge Legion.

Miller said it’s all just a matter of reaching out and connecting with a veteran.

Retired Warrant Officer Glenn Miller at the Lethbridge Legion (Lethbridge News Now)

“Veterans come in all sizes, shapes, colours and ages. You can have a veteran who is 65 or a veteran who is 25, so one of the things that people have rallied to here in the province of Alberta is through license plates – that’s a way of raising funds,” he added.

“On the back of the scene – let’s just think back when the Afghanistan war started, we had four unique casualties that were killed in Afghanistan and sadly it was by friendly fire. So, when people see veterans’ plates today, they’ll see a poppy with the word ‘veteran’, but they’ll also see another plate that has four soldiers in the corner on the side – that actually tells an Alberta story. For those people who are passing those cars, educate your children on what those signs mean, so we don’t forget.”

THE POPPY AND CANADIAN CURRENCY

The poppy is the symbol for Remembrance Day. Miller said the colour red of the poppy has made its way onto some Canadian currency.

“We’ve always been a leading-edge country with our Canadian currency, whether it’s bills, or coins and the poppy was the first coloured coin that we used. It has gone through a different number of variations over the years – from one poppy to two poppies. The Canadian Post Office now has a special 10-dollar coin that features a poppy on it. There’s a limited number of ten-thousand of them,” he said, adding that he ‘seized the moment’ and bought one of the specialty 10-dollar coins.

He plans to give that coin to whoever hosts him on his visit to Holland next year – commemorating the 75^th anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands.

“As Canadians handle change and bills every day, I would encourage them to look at the Canadian culture and story that the mint is trying to tell us. If you look at the new 20-dollar bill and the connection with Vimy Ridge – how many people realize what’s on the back of the 20-dollar bill? There’s lots of military connections every day – just take a moment to pause and reflect, look at the change and see what it’s trying to tell us.”

Some of the poppy-related items available at the Lethbridge Legion (Lethbridge News Now)

Miller explained that the Royal Canadian Legion owns the trademark of the poppy and there’s a vast array of memorabilia bearing the poppy symbol that Canadians can purchase – from scarves to shirts and hats. Funds raised go towards various Legion efforts.

CALGARY’S FIELD OF CROSSES

In Calgary, along Memorial Drive, there are over 3,000 temporary crosses that passersby might have noticed over the last week.

The crosses, in what’s referred to as the Field of Crosses, each represent a casualty of war from southern Alberta.

“We have people from Lethbridge that are in amongst that field of crosses, my wife has a relative there as well so that’s a connection,” Miller told Lethbridge News Now.

The list of names and more details on the Field of Crosses can be seen here.

Miller added that if anyone spots a name that’s missing, they can put in a request to have that name included for next year’s event.

“Last year, I observed a few names that were missing, so to honour those veterans I submitted some names that are there this year.”

Lethbridge’s 20^th Independent Field Battery will fire howitzers at the Field of Crosses today, Nov. 11.

CANADIAN FALLEN HEROES FOUNDATION

The Lethbridge Legion has a Wall of Honour, or Roll of Honour, at its facilities.

“We have a wall that consists of names and those names are found in Legions across Canada – the Roll of Honour [for] those who have served locally and joined locally,” Miller said, noting their Roll of Honour has over 3,000 names that joined the Canadian Forces from Lethbridge, Lethbridge County and the Blood Tribe.

“That’s an impressive number of those who’ve joined. Of all those 3,000 there will be some who are marked with a poppy, because they’re actually casualties from the war.”

In connection with that, he commended the work done by the Canadian Fallen Heroes Foundation.

“The Canadian Fallen Heroes Foundation is a nationally registered not-for-profit charity and their mission is to tell a story for each one of those who were killed on the service of Canada, so there’s over 116,000 names. There’s the story that a person had died in the military, but that’s just a portion of it – who else was this person? They’re trying to round it out from a human dimension; he was the captain of the football team or a lawyer or a father.”

The CFHF is hoping to have friends or family of a veteran connect with them to provide not just a name, but a brief biography of the fallen.

Miller commented that a woman recently came into the Lethbridge Legion with a picture and biography for a relative who served for Canada – he said that relative happened to be one of the first three killed in England during the Second World War.

“They (soldiers) were citizens, they were members of the community, builders of the community. “Often in the case, during the First and Second [World] War, if someone had died, a lot of it wasn’t mentioned – how he died or where they died, or she died? But, what do we say to the next generation of kids about uncle John or aunt Janet? Families might not know the whole story, the well-rounded biography, so we’re trying to preserve that for future generations and students as well.”

THE LAST POST FUND

The Last Post Fund’s mission is to make sure no veteran is denied a dignified funeral and burial, in addition to a military gravestone due to insufficient funds at their time of death.

“The Last Post Fund has a component of the unmarked grave program and this allows the Last Post Fund to place a permanent marker at the grave site of a veteran,” Miller said.

“One of the things that the Last Post Fund is looking for from Canadians across Canada is the locations of unmarked graves of veterans and that will allow us – for any veteran who’s been buried for more than five years – to put and erect a headstone.”

He said that the organization conducts research through the winter months before erecting new stones in the summer.

“We just erected one here in Lethbridge and that’s an ongoing process. There’s one from the Rural Rebellion that we were able to identify and have a headstone placed. There’s some out in Pincher Creek, Fort Macleod, all these locations across Canada. It’s a permanent act of remembrance for our veterans.”

The Last Post Fund has also launched a new Indigenous veterans initiative in which they look for Indigenous veterans with unmarked graves and those already with a permanent military-style marker.

Once those graves are found, they’ll add on the traditional name of that soldier.

However, donations are needed to get that work done.

Another program available, that helps homeless veterans, is the Homes for Heroes Foundation out of Calgary. The HHF recently opened a small community for homeless veterans.

“They will be establishing more across Canada – whether it be London, Ontario or Edmonton or some place in Vancouver, but there’s a need for the Last Post Fund, the Canadian Fallen Heroes Foundation [and] many other organizations that deal with veterans – [Canadians] can make a donation to help them achieve their mission because each of those organizations fulfill a very important role in honouring veterans,” Miller said.

“Sadly, that organization needs to exist, we wish there wasn’t a need but they’re addressing the need and so, whether you’re looking for a face or an unmarked grave, the need is there, and it takes money to achieve those missions. Certainly, if you want to make a donation to the organization of your choice, it would be greatly appreciated – no matter how small or how large, all donations are valued.”

There are many ways to assist veterans through monetary donations, but the first step may just be to take a moment, reflect and thank them for their sacrifice and service to Canada, especially this Remembrance Day.

by Justin Goulet

Lest We Forget: how to honour the lives and sacrifice of veterans

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