On this Remembrance Day, you can get a feel for what the men and women lived through by visiting Canadian Letters dot ca.
The Canadian Letters and Images Project is an online archive of the Canadian war experience, from any war, as told through the letters and images of Canadians themselves.
The Project, located in the Department of History at Vancouver Island University was assembled by Dr. Stephen Davies who says much of the digitized information came from the families of the soldiers .
“They are literally coming out of closets and attics. We borrow them, digitize them and give them back to the families. That way, we can bring them into the public domain and the families can hold on to those heirlooms. We’ve also started, lately, having well known Canadians read the letters, for example, Rick Mercer, former Governor General, Wayne Gretzky.”
Davies says one of the most memorable letters, for him, was written by a young man named Hart Leech in 1916 who was in the trenches and about to head into battle.
It was what was called a post-mortem letter where, if the soldier were to live his commanding officer would give it back, but if he were to die, the letter would be mailed to his family.
It turns out, it was the last letter written by Leech.
Remembrance Day ceremonies will be taking place in our communities Sunday.
Kay Metcalfe with the Legion in Sechelt said this is a significant event for the community and we should never forget about the ones who sacrificed their lives to make ours better….
“I think we have to remind people, especially the younger ones, that, this did happen. We have lost a lot of our people, a lot of grandparents, and this is one way to acknowledge that we are very proud that they have gone to war.”
Participants in the service Sunday will be meeting at the legion for 10:30 before marching down to the cenotaph in Sechelt.
In Nanaimo, the Remembrance Day Parade and Ceremony starts at 10:30.
Participants will head down Chapel Street, Church Street and then to Front Street at the cenotaph for the actual service.
In Qualicum, the parade starts at 10:30 and proceeds along 2nd Avenue to Jones Street and then to the Civic Centre where the service will be held.
In Parksville, the parade will travel from the Legion on West Hirst Avenue beginning at 10:30.
The service will be at the cenotaph at City Hall.
