'It was very heart-warming': Moncton students lay flags at veteran’s graves

Halloween may be less than a week away, but a group of middle school students in Moncton, N.B., had Remembrance Day on their minds Wednesday morning.

Two classrooms of students and their teachers from Sunny Brae Middle School marched across the street to Elmwood Cemetery to pay their respects to the Canadian veterans buried there.

With the help from cemetery staff, Legion members and recent veterans, the students placed hundreds of Canadian flags next to the grave stones of veteran’s.

Sunny Brae teacher Les Miller said a lot of children at the school wanted to go to honour the veterans, but they couldn't take them all.

“We actually had a swarm of students coming in asking and we had to kind of pair it down to two classrooms. A lot of our students would have loved to have come out and participated had we had the capacity to bring more than our 41 students with us today,” said Miller. “Some of my students were actually quite excited. They have family members here that served in the First World War.”

Grade 7 student Hailey Glawson said the veterans buried who died at war sacrificed their lives for other generations.

“If they didn't we probably wouldn't be here right now,” said Hailey. “You're recognizing what they did for you. You’re safe in this country because of them.”

Grade 8 student Broden Flewelling said his great grandfather fought in the Second World War, but never returned home.

“He didn’t make it,” said Broden. “Every Remembrance Day me and my grandmother used to go out and visit his grave and bring flowers.”

One of the cemetery’s student employees developed a new mapping system and made a list of all 665 veterans buried on the 40-acre lot, 300 more than originally thought.

Sara Hope printed out the maps they had and highlighted where the veterans’ headstones or markers were for the students.

Veterans walked with the kids and showed them where to place the flags.

“It was great to see,” said Hope. “They were all enthusiastic and they seemed like they had a lot of fun and I hope they had more appreciation for the cemetery and for the people that are here.”

Grade 8 student Owen Horsman said they planted as many flags as they could before they had to go back to class.

“Every year for Remembrance Day me, my mom and my dad go to the [Moncton] coliseum and watch the ceremony. It's really heartbreaking what happened to all of those people that fought in the war,” said Owen.

Grade 7 student Arielle Kayabula called it a special day for her and her classmates.

“Remembrance Day is remembering people's lives and what they've done for the world and their country and making sure their legacy lives on,” said Arielle.

Bill Fallon of the Sunny Brae Legion and the poppy chair said it was fantastic to see the kids learn more about the veterans and Remembrance Day.

“I thought it was a very good experience for myself as a veteran and for the kids because you got to talk to a few of them and they get to ask a few questions,” said Fallon. “It was good to see them come out and put the flags out and I think they enjoyed it.”

Elmwood Cemetery interim president Jim Rogers said by involving young students they will hopefully learn proper respect for a cemetery.

Rogers, whose father helped liberate Holland during the Second World War, was deeply moved by the children.

“It was very heart-warming,” said Rogers. “It's nice to see young people paying respect to the people that gave their lives for our freedom.”

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