National project makes remembrance personal for Vernon students

By mturcato Global News

Posted November 2, 2016 4:14 pm

Updated November 2, 2016 8:15 pm

2 min read

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Click to play video: 'Vernon students honour veterans’ graves'

2:36 Vernon students honour veterans’ graves

Vernon students honour veterans’ graves – Nov 2, 2016

Students from a Vernon high school, along with members of the local Royal Canadian Legion and the British Columbia Dragoons gathered in a Vernon cemetery Wednesday morning to lay poppies on the graves of veterans.

The short ceremony is part of a national project called No Stone Left Alone. The initiative, which started in Edmonton, aims to eventually recognize all Canadian veterans by laying a poppy on their graves in the lead-up to Remembrance Day.

In preparation for the ceremony, the students researched the lives of individual local veterans. Some students say the project has given them a deeper understanding of what the veterans experienced.

“It is really sad and you get to feel a connection with the people who fought for the country which you don’t get often. When you come here it is just even more real than it is just talking about it,” said grade 11 student Ella Oduro.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It is really sad and you get to feel a connection with the people who fought for the country which you don't get often. When you come here it is just even more real than it is just talking about it," said grade 11 student Ella Oduro.

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Captain Jeffrey Daley of the British Columbia Dragoons spoke to students, impressing upon them that the local veterans from past generations were not all that different from the students themselves.

“It’s important to remember. What is really interesting is when [the students] walk along and then they recognize a name or they recognize the fact that this headstone, this person is from my community. They don’t realize that this guy might have lived two blocks from my house. They lived on the same street. They grew up on the same street and then went away to war,” said Daley.

Wednesday’s ceremony was the first time Vernon has taken part in the initiative. No Stone Left Alone ceremonies are also planned in Kelowna and Victoria.