During the tour I walked amongst the headstones of the Canadian war dead…row upon row… reading the epitaphs. Outside of prayers from family members on distant shores the epitaph represents the last words from a mother to her son, a father to his boy or vice versa, a son or daughter to their father. Sometimes a family decides to not have anything written at the bottom of the headstone. Do they do this because the family is angry and their son has died in vain? Or is the family so overwhelmed with grief they are unable to bring closure to his death? In many ways what is not written says just as much and sometimes more than what is written. In the space provided by the War Graves Commission there is just weathered and pebbly concrete. Silence on the stone is deafening. The War Graves Commission will provide some standardized epitaph phrases such as “He Died So Others May Live” or “Beloved Son” or “Gone but Not Forgotten”. The epitaph that seems so lonely is when the body of a soldier is discovered by he cannot be identified. When this happens the Commission will state that the soldier buried here is “Known unto God”. Many of these phrases were the work of famous English poet and author Rudyard Kipling who lost a son during the Great War. The final words are the legacy that both the family and the soldier leave behind. I think that in many ways it is up to me to read each one and sometimes I stop at a stone that is blank and I say an epitaph for them. When it was my time to share my biography of Robert Chapman to the group in Holten Cemetery I scanned his headstone and immediately noticed that at the bottom of his headstone the family had written nothing for him or to him. Like the stone I found myself shrouded in silence. I wanted to write his epitaph for him but what is the most appropriate thing to say? What is important? What creates an effective memory for this soldier – my soldier? As I stand there I think about how I would want to be remembered. I have completed the research on him and I probably know him better than anybody. Am I qualified to write an epitaph on his behalf? Does he wait for me to do this? If so, what should it say? Sun sets on the golden wheat haze This is where I will end my days Here I lie in a foreign home Humanity and lives, many saved Many saved Many saved Cheers, Robert Chapman. Ben Seward Student, Smiths Falls District Collegiate Institute Smiths Falls, Ontario
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AuthorsParticipating educators and high school students share reflections on their professional and personal experiences during and after the program. Some posts link to the Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society's blog, Studeamus bellum causa pacis. Archives
August 2015
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