'It’s touching': Remembrance Day project the pride of N.B. seaside community

Rows of crosses line the lawn in front of a community centre in Pointe-du-Chêne, New Brunswick.

They were put there by a pair of veterans who wanted to honour 30 men from the area who served in the First World War, Second World War, and the Korean War.

The heartfelt project was the idea of a woman whose family has served for generations and it was years in the making.

Faye Gallant-Rosenberg wanted to find a way to honour and respect the soldiers.

“Being from a small community, to have this amount of men leave during the wars, it had to be devastating for the families left behind,” said Gallant-Rosenberg.

Only one of the 30 men remembered with a cross didn't come home.

Donald 'Snookie' Lutes made the ultimate sacrifice on Nov. 26, 1944.

“Eighteen-years-old and killed in action on the first day he arrived in Belgium. It's very sad,” said Gallant-Rosenberg.

Faye painted the crosses and the mother-daughter team of Susan and Taylor Wallace made the names, printed them out, and stencilled them onto the crosses.

“It was an honour to help her out,” said Susan. “It took us three days to get it done.”

Veteran Reg Smith built the crosses in his garage and placed the poppies and flags on them when they were ready.

Having served for 27 years, he couldn’t help but get a little choked up thinking about it all.

“I'm not too bad today, but the day that I was putting them in, you know you get those chills and stuff. Today it's not too bad, but the actual day we were placing them in the ground it was pretty emotional,” said Smith.

Leo Doiron, the manger and past president of the Shediac Legion, said veterans in the community really appreciate what's been done.

'It's touching,” said Doiron.

The veteran said it's even more poignant with what is going on now in Ukraine and Gaza.

“This is 2023. You would think that we could resolve problems by negotiating and compromising and doing all the right things, but no, it's still in the battlefields,” said Doiron.

The term military family is very fitting for Gallant-Rosenberg, who joined when she was 40 and retired at 60.

Her father Silas fought in the Second World War.

Her husband Peter was in the military for 40 years and even served with his two sons in Afghanistan in 2006.

There’s even a grandson in the military.

“I’m very proud of my family,” she said.

And she’s proud of the veterans from the community who have served and she wants people to remember them.

“These stories are not being told and they have to be told,” said Gallant-Rosenberg. “We can not forget these men.”

The cross display will likely become an annual tradition and the hope is more will be added next year.

Anyone is welcome to stop by the community centre to pay their respects, but the crosses are scheduled to be pulled out of the ground on Nov. 12.

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