Manitoba volunteers search for unmarked veterans' graves to make sure all get proper headstones
'
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all → search → headstones
They fought for the country.
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They → fight → country
Now, they have been forgotten about with time': Brandon Last Post Fund volunteer
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they → forget → time
It's a bright sunny day in Brandon as George MacKay kneels in front of his dad's grave.
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MacKay → kneel → grave
He brushes away a few stray strands of grass.
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He → brush → grass
"My dad was a veteran, so it's very important to me," he said.
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he → say → me
MacKay comes to visit his late father, Pte. Gordon MacKay, at the city's municipal cemetery quite often, but on this day — Nov. 6, just a few days before Remembrance Day — it's particularly poignant, he said.
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he → come → Day
The cemetery is teeming with southwestern Manitoba junior high school students who are placing poppies on veterans' graves for the No Stone Left Alone Memorial Foundation — an Edmonton-based non-profit that works with youth to honour veterans.
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that → teem → veterans
"A day like today, with the young children here, my heart just bleeds when I see them, and they're so well-mannered.
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they → bleed → them
They do such a good job," said MacKay.
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MacKay → do → job
But some veterans' graves have either only a temporary marker or none at all — something MacKay wants to change.
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MacKay → have → marker
He's a volunteer in Brandon with the Last Post Fund, a national non-profit that works with Veterans Affairs Canada to provide funeral benefits for military personnel who can't afford them, and supplies headstones for those buried without one.
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who → work → one
"Those poor souls, they fought for the country.
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they → fight → country
Now, they have been forgotten about with time, and who knows what their circumstance was," MacKay said.
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MacKay → forget → time
"You can't just let them be on their own.
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them → let → own
They got to be recognized.
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They → get → ?
The Last Post Fund estimates there could be more than 600 unmarked veterans' graves in Manitoba cemeteries.
uncertain
Fund → estimate → cemeteries
Laura Crookshanks works with MacKay as a researcher.
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Crookshanks → work → researcher
They've pored over 1,000 names of people buried in western Manitoba, comparing them to Canada's records of war veterans.
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They → pore → veterans
Crookshanks has already helped place headstones in southwestern Manitoba, in Birtle and Minnedosa.
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Crookshanks → place → Birtle
She and MacKay happily accept referrals, but in one case, it was Crookshanks who noticed an unmarked grave.
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who → accept → grave
"I noticed a cenotaph and went to have a look.
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I → notice → look
There were several graves around the cenotaph that had proper stones, and one small metal plaque in the ground.
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that → be → ground
And I thought, why is that grave not marked with a stone?" Crookshanks said.
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Crookshanks → think → stone
"So I researched and found that yes, he was in fact a veteran who had served, and I made an application and he ended up having a stone placed.
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stone → research → application
So it was quite rewarding to go back and look at the stone.
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it → go → stone
"
Not forgotten
As of September, 354 applications for headstones in Manitoba had been submitted to the Last Post Fund and are waiting for review, says Matt Halpin, the charity's Manitoba branch president.
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Halpin → forget → review
Another 59 headstone placements have already been approved, said Halpin, a retired lieutenant-colonel with more than three decades of service with the Royal Canadian Air Force.
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Halpin → approve → Force
Matt Halpin, a retired Royal Canadian Air Force lieutenant-colonel, is seen at the National Field of Honour in Montreal.
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Halpin → see → Montreal
The fund, which dates back to the early 1900s, says it has placed about 10,000 military headstones on unmarked graves across the country since 1996, when it started its headstone program.
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it → date → program
The Last Post Fund will consider applications for a headstone if the person has been buried for at least five years, which allows time to complete research and paperwork, said Halpin.
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Halpin → consider → research
"As you can understand, when someone passes away, a lot of times some of those things get forgotten," he said.
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he → understand → things
"Sometimes the estates take a long time to go through … probate, depending on the province.
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estates → take → province
And again, as time marches on, that piece of the piece of the puzzle kind of gets lost."
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piece → march → puzzle
One of the Last Post Fund's approvals in Manitoba is in Carberry, where a veteran who was buried in 1971 will get a headstone on his grave next spring or summer.
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who → bury → grave
"It kind of pulls at the heartstrings a little bit," Halpin said.
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Halpin → pull → heartstrings
"It just kind of speaks of those who have gone before us — paid the ultimate price, many of them."
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who → speak → them
Bob Patryluk served for 29 years with the Royal Canadian Navy.
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Patryluk → serve → Navy
Now a Brandonite and the chair of the cemetery committee at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 3 in the city, he said he's grateful for the Last Post Fund program.
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he → say → program
I set my life down for Canada at that time," he said.
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he → set → time
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
