I am so grateful for the No Stone Left Alone movement. It gives today’s youth another reason to be there, to honour those who made the supreme sacrifice.
For those of us who came from soldier fathers and war-bride mothers, it also holds a special meaning.
My dad, like many of yours, represented Canada in Europe. He was in Germany when the shelling stopped.
My father-in-law-to-be was also serving in Germany, although they did not know each other.
They waited all night for the shelling to resume, and were told the next morning that the war was over.
My dad was the last man standing at his home-town Legion, of all the boys who went to war. He used to joke that there would be none of his friends at his funeral. He’d attended all of theirs.
I would tell him that like the soldiers from Afghanistan who rode the Highway of Heroes, when his turn on earth was finally done, he may find out there are people who appreciate his service, that he never knew existed.
And, that’s exactly what’s happening now, with a poppy for his headstone, lest we forget.
Let me know what it means to you.
Bob Layton is the news manager of the Corus Edmonton group of radio stations.