Caring for the fallen: A new volunteer program to maintain war graves in Canada

An item from the Legion Magazine that may be of interest to members.

Commonwealth war graves at Yorkton Cemetery in Saskatchewan. The grave on the far left is that of Leading Aircraftman Wilfred Tibbits of the Royal Australian Air Force. [Courtesy Brittany Johnson]

Caring for the fallen: A new volunteer program to maintain war graves in Canada

STORY BY RICHARD FOOT

Brittany Johnson is expecting her first baby in July. But the mom-to-be is no stranger to nurturing needy souls.

For the past year, Johnson has been carefully tending the memories of 25 veterans buried in Commonwealth war graves in and around her home of Yorkton, Sask.

She regularly visits each grave across 10 cemeteries—some on remote stretches of prairie along the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border—to inspect, catalogue and clean the headstones of men, and one woman, who served their countries in the First and Second world wars.

As a volunteer caretaker with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), Johnson does this out of the goodness of her heart and a desire to give back.

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Dustin Hare (centre), a non- commissioned member in the Royal Canadian Naval Reserves and the business manager of the Carpenters Union Local 1946, gives Helmets to Hardhats Canada outreach specialists Normand Trepanier (right) and Pat Rizzo (left) a tour of the London, Ont., facility in summer 2025. [Helmets to Hardhats Canada]

A conversation with Helmets to Hardhats

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

When military veteran Justin Curtis hung up his uniform after eight years of service, he asked himself the question that countless comrades throughout the history of the Canadian Armed Forces have asked before: what next?

The challenges that others have faced in navigating civvy street were not lost on the former infantryman. Nevertheless, explained Curtis, his own transition proved to be “seamless” after discovering Helmets to Hardhats (H2H), a program that pairs military community members with jobs in the unionized skilled trades.

An impactful conversation with an H2H liaison officer set him on his chosen path. Within two days, Curtis was already in constructive talks with Halifax union representatives. It wasn’t long thereafter that he was working in construction itself.