Veterans Voices of Canada is looking for corporate sponsors to help reach aging veterans before it’s too late.
Allan Cameron, 46, founder of Veterans Voices, said the average age of Second World War veterans is 90 and Korean War veterans are not far behind.
There’s likely just 10 years left to do as many interviews as possible, he said.
Cameron has more than 70 veterans waiting to be interviewed, about 50 from the Second World War and the Korean War.
Since 2006, he has videotaped close to 750 veterans telling their stories.
“It never gets repetitive. There’s always similar stories, but every veteran always has a different story to tell. You can have five veterans from one action, even within feet from each other, and every one of them has a different perspective on what they saw and what they did,” said Cameron, a Sylvan Lake resident.
Veterans Voices of Canada is a non-profit organization preserving the memories of veterans and peacekeepers for those who served, their families and the public.
Through his work, Cameron said he was finally able to find out how his great uncle Ernest Glenmore Hill died in France on July 25, 1944.
One of Hill’s fellow soldiers read an article about Veterans Voices of Canada in which Cameron spoke about his great uncle. A photo of Hill was included and the veteran recognized him and contacted Cameron.
Cameron learned Hill was on a reconnaissance mission as a machine-gunner on a bren gun carrier when it was surrounded by German infantry. Hill ran into a nearby house for cover but he died in a hail of machine-gun fire. Last year, Cameron visited the farm where Hill was killed.
“They took me right to the orchard where the German tank cut them off. It was quite a scene of carnage. A lot of deaths happened that day. The farmer actually cut down every apple tree except one because of what happened that day.”
For more information about Veterans Voices of Canada, visit www.vetvoicecan.org.
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com