One hundred posters honouring fallen soldiers from Edmonton popped up Saturday on light posts along 100th Avenue in the city’s downtown area.
The project, called Our Heroes Your Heritage, highlights the personal stories of soldiers from the Edmonton regiment who made the ultimate sacrifice and seeks to connect everyday Canadians to their military heritage.
“When you look at the poster, you’ll see not only their name, not only their unit, but you’ll also see their age… There are guys younger than me that were killed,” said Joe MacDonald, a regimental history for the Loyal Edmonton Regiment (LER) Military Museum. “The youngest one was private John B. Dunlop. He was only 16 years old and he also had two of his brothers who also went missing in the Great War.”
MacDonald, whose great-grandfather fought in the First World War died at Vimy Ridge, said Remembrance Day continues to be an important occasion. “It shows that we haven’t forgotten all these years later. Over 100 years later since we started wearing the poppy, we’re still wearing the poppy not only with pride but also with meaning.”
The posters will be up until Nov. 12. Additional posters will also be found throughout the city for Remembrance Day, including at locations such as city hall and the LER Museum.
“If there is one person that might see their relatives, their great grandpa their great uncle, on one of their memorials, we did the job and we are honouring them,” MacDonald said.