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Preserving Canadian military gravesites

Preserving Canadian military gravesites

A retired Technician with the Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Corps in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), Nick Hébert now works with Commemoration Division’s Cemetery Maintenance team at Veterans Affairs Canada.

The state of each grave marker is symbolic of Canada’s pride and respect for its Veterans.
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Nick appreciates that he can apply the knowledge and skills he gained from his time in the forces to complete his important work preserving the legacy of those who served and sacrificed for Canada. As a Veteran, maintaining the gravesites and grave markers of fallen CAF members takes on a special significance.

“Promoting the achievements and honoring the sacrifices of our Veterans is very important. The state of each grave marker is symbolic of Canada’s pride and respect for its Veterans. So it’s incumbent upon us [Veterans Affairs Canada] to ensure they are all well kept.”

The Cemetery Maintenance team consists of four program advisors, each with a designated region in Canada. Nick is responsible for Veteran grave markers in cemeteries throughout the province of Quebec and Northern New Brunswick. He locates, inspects, gathers information and initiates maintenance on every Veteran grave marker in his region. In 2019 alone, he conducted visits to over 290 cemeteries.

“I remember at the Cimetière Notre-Dame in Rouyn Noranda, I had trouble locating more than half of the graves on our list. There were rows of white crosses and bronze plaques, but the granite markers were all missing. I started probing the ground and found one, then two, and then three markers, all six feet from the white crosses. So, I went to the local hardware store, bought some tools and started digging. I uncovered 56 markers, including 30 undocumented veteran flat markers and three family markers.”

The Cemetery Maintenance team uses satellite imagery of the plotted graves. Staff then confirm the placement and look to see if the grave markers are clean, level, and sturdy, and verify that the inscriptions are correct and legible. Sometimes, they even find new markers during their inspections.

If you know of a gravesite that requires maintenance or is unmarked, or you require additional information about this program, please contact Cemetery Maintenance at vac.cm-mc.acc@canada.ca or call 902-626-2440.

Date published: 2020-01-10

 

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