Veterans

Centenarians Hans Andersen (middle left) and Dick Deck stand with Legion representative Laurier “Duke” Cadieux (right) and two RCMP officers Nov. 11, 2021. The two 100-year-olds had both laid wreaths at the Cloverdale Cenotaph. Both men were POWs in WWII. (Photo: Jason Sveinson)

Two 100-year-old former POWs lay wreaths at Cloverdale Cenotaph

About 500 attend Remembrance Day ceremony in Cloverdale

 

Reg Wise, then 96, salutes the men who died during the Dieppe Raid. Wise had just laid a wreath at the Cloverdale Cenotaph Aug. 19, 2021—the 79th anniversary of Dieppe. Wise passed away Oct. 29. (Photo: Malin Jordan)

COLUMN: Reg Wise, remembering a friend

Reg added value to the world and augmented the lives of those that met him

 

First Canadian Paratroop Battalion veteran George Siggs as he appears in 2021, as a resident of White Rock Seniors Village. Alex Browne photo

White Rock Second World War veteran recounts harrowing and humorous experiences

George Siggs still has intense memories of serving as a paratrooper Europe

 

Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence Minister Lawrence MacAulay responds to a question during a news conference in Ottawa on November 10, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Government will hire more staff to address veterans’ backlog, caseloads: minister

Announcement made in the wake of 5-part Canadian Press series on veteran’s issues

Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence Minister Lawrence MacAulay responds to a question during a news conference in Ottawa on November 10, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
The Last Post Fund’s Unmarked Grave Program have identified 7,000 unmarked Commonwealth veterans’ graves and given them a permanent headstone or marker. (Ben Lypka/Abbotsford News)

Unmarked Grave Program looking for Canada’s lost veterans

Last Post Fund’s gravesite program giving veterans final respects

The Last Post Fund’s Unmarked Grave Program have identified 7,000 unmarked Commonwealth veterans’ graves and given them a permanent headstone or marker. (Ben Lypka/Abbotsford News)
Veteran Matthew Kane poses for a photograph in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday, November 4, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The Money: Today’s veterans fighting Ottawa for equality with previous generations

Campaign continues in fight for equity and fairness for all veterans

Veteran Matthew Kane poses for a photograph in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday, November 4, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Minister of Veterans Affairs Lawrence MacAulay uses his phone as he arrives for a cabinet meeting in Ottawa, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021. Tens of thousands of Canadian veterans who sustained long-term injuries from their military service are waiting to find out whether Veterans Affairs Canada will approve their disability claims. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

The Backlog: Thousands of veterans with disabilities are waiting years for support

Tens of thousands of veterans are waiting to see if their injuries qualify them for support

Minister of Veterans Affairs Lawrence MacAulay uses his phone as he arrives for a cabinet meeting in Ottawa, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021. Tens of thousands of Canadian veterans who sustained long-term injuries from their military service are waiting to find out whether Veterans Affairs Canada will approve their disability claims. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Canadian soldiers Benjamin Van Eck, left, and Dan Campbell are shown in Kandahar, Afghanistan in this 2007 handout image. While Campbell would eventually settle down to start a family, Van Eck struggled with drug addiction and homelessness after hanging up his uniform before his lifeless body was found on the streets of London, Ont., this past June. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Dan Campbell, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

The Streets: Ottawa faces calls to step up on veteran homelessness

Grassroots organizations have stepped in to feel in the gaps left by government services

Canadian soldiers Benjamin Van Eck, left, and Dan Campbell are shown in Kandahar, Afghanistan in this 2007 handout image. While Campbell would eventually settle down to start a family, Van Eck struggled with drug addiction and homelessness after hanging up his uniform before his lifeless body was found on the streets of London, Ont., this past June. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Dan Campbell, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
FILE – The Canadian flag flies at half-mast at the funeral for Lionel Desmond and his mother Brenda Desmond at St. Peter’s Church in Tracadie, N.S. on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017. Desmond killed his mother, wife and young daughter before taking his own life earlier in the month. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

The Caseload: Veterans Affairs staff overwhelmed by number of vets assigned to them

An internal review released in 2019 found case managers spent more time filling out paperwork than helping veterans directly

FILE – The Canadian flag flies at half-mast at the funeral for Lionel Desmond and his mother Brenda Desmond at St. Peter’s Church in Tracadie, N.S. on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017. Desmond killed his mother, wife and young daughter before taking his own life earlier in the month. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
Grade 11 Brookswood Secondary student Charlie Farquharson, 16, wrote and recorded a rap song for Remembrance Day last year as part of a Grade 10 class assignment. He did the entirety of the project from his home computer using software he was already familiar with, calling writing and recording music a hobby. (Special to Langley Advance Times)

B.C. teen writes, records rap to bring Remembrance Day to forefront for youth

16-year-old Charlie Farquharson says youth should be engaged in different ways

Grade 11 Brookswood Secondary student Charlie Farquharson, 16, wrote and recorded a rap song for Remembrance Day last year as part of a Grade 10 class assignment. He did the entirety of the project from his home computer using software he was already familiar with, calling writing and recording music a hobby. (Special to Langley Advance Times)
Construction is well underway at Surrey’s Legion Veterans Village in the city centre. (Submitted photo)

‘Remarkable’ progress on Surrey’s $312M Legion Veterans Village

Leadership team for Centre of Excellence revealed

Construction is well underway at Surrey’s Legion Veterans Village in the city centre. (Submitted photo)
A new cenotaph has been erected at Sunnyside Lawn Cemetery in South Surrey. (City of Surrey photo)

New cenotaph erected at South Surrey cemetery

Project at Sunnyside Lawn got underway in summer

A new cenotaph has been erected at Sunnyside Lawn Cemetery in South Surrey. (City of Surrey photo)
Master Corporal (ret’d) Mitchel Claypool (kneeling on right) is seen with his section, E33D, in Sperwan Ghar, Kandahar, Afghanistan in September 2007. (Photo submitted: Mitchel Claypool)

Cloverdale veteran recalls his time in Afghanistan

‘It was one of the hardest, yet most valuable, experiences of my life,’ says Claypool

Master Corporal (ret’d) Mitchel Claypool (kneeling on right) is seen with his section, E33D, in Sperwan Ghar, Kandahar, Afghanistan in September 2007. (Photo submitted: Mitchel Claypool)
A previous edition of Operation Raise a Flag is seen. Canadians across the country are once again invited to buy a flag to be planted outside the Sunnybrook Veterans Centre in Toronto this Remembrance Day. (Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre)

British Columbians invited to help plant 30,000 flags at Canada’s largest veteran facility

Toronto’s Sunnybrook Veterans Centre seeking nation-wide support to plant flags for Remembrance Day

A previous edition of Operation Raise a Flag is seen. Canadians across the country are once again invited to buy a flag to be planted outside the Sunnybrook Veterans Centre in Toronto this Remembrance Day. (Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre)
Kevin Wise helps his father Reginald Wise lay a wreath at the Cloverdale Cenotaph Aug. 19, 2021, on the 79th anniversary of the Dieppe raid in World War II. Wise, a Second World War veteran, passed away Oct. 29. (Photo: Malin Jordan)

Cloverdale WWII veteran passes away

Reginald Wise was a Royal Marine; fought in Italy, Albania, Greece, and Yugoslavia

Kevin Wise helps his father Reginald Wise lay a wreath at the Cloverdale Cenotaph Aug. 19, 2021, on the 79th anniversary of the Dieppe raid in World War II. Wise, a Second World War veteran, passed away Oct. 29. (Photo: Malin Jordan)
White Rock, in conjunction with the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 8, will host an in-person Remembrance Day event this year. (File photo)

White Rock Remembrance Day ceremonies to return to in-person format

Last year’s event was held virtually due to COVID-19 gathering restrictions

White Rock, in conjunction with the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 8, will host an in-person Remembrance Day event this year. (File photo)
British Columbia Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin, Royal Canadian Legion BC and Yukon commander Angus Stanfield and Austin’s temporary aide-de-camp Glen Greenhill at Government House gather for the first poppy presentation, Oct. 26. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)

VIDEO: Lt. Gov. Janet Austin given first poppy of BC/Yukon Legion’s 100th remembrance campaign

Poppies will be available by donation through various organizations across Canada as of Oct. 29

British Columbia Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin, Royal Canadian Legion BC and Yukon commander Angus Stanfield and Austin’s temporary aide-de-camp Glen Greenhill at Government House gather for the first poppy presentation, Oct. 26. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)
Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin, Royal Canadian Legion BC and Yukon commander Angus Stanfield and temporary aide-de-camp to the Lt.-Gov. Glen Greenhill at Rockland Avenue’s Government House, Oct. 26. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)

VIDEO: First pin presented as Legion kicks off 100th poppy campaign

Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin presented the first poppy of BC and Yukon Legion’s remembrance fundraiser

Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin, Royal Canadian Legion BC and Yukon commander Angus Stanfield and temporary aide-de-camp to the Lt.-Gov. Glen Greenhill at Rockland Avenue’s Government House, Oct. 26. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)
A Canadian flag patch is shown on a soldier’s shoulder in Trenton, Ont., on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg photo)

South Surrey-based veterans’ group continues quest for covenant, bill of rights

Equitas Society seeking ‘political solution’ to long-sought legislation

A Canadian flag patch is shown on a soldier’s shoulder in Trenton, Ont., on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg photo)
A Canadian soldier keeps a close watch as one of his men investigates a suspicious device near a road between two of Canada’s bases in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, June 2, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel

Taliban victories prompt fresh questions, soul searching for Canadian veterans

Veterans, some still in uniform, have taken to social media in recent days to express their pain and sadness

A Canadian soldier keeps a close watch as one of his men investigates a suspicious device near a road between two of Canada’s bases in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, June 2, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel