Cochrane cadets will be visiting local cemeteries over the course of several months to track down the graves of veterans from the area and record them after it was discovered no records of the burial sites exist. Karen Bruens, president of the Cochrane Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, confirmed there are no current records regarding where veterans from the area are buried. "Be it first, second, Korean, whatever, we're just asking them to find out where all these graves are of the veterans and to document them with the names and the dates for us and as to the location," Bruens said. Gravestones of local first responders will also be located and documented as well as veterans who have died since returning home from war. "It's asking them to go up and take pictures and that type of thing so that we can make files of them." Bruens said the files will be sent to Ottawa's legion branches. "They have all the people that were enlisted, but a lot of them passed away after they came out of the service. So they have no idea where all these people are buried so it's also for Ottawa archives," Bruens said. Last year, the Cadet's launched the project No Stone Left Alone which served as an informal commemoration where cadets visited grave sites. Bruens said it will be a perfect project to coincide with the No Stone Left Alone initiative. "As far as the cadets are concerned, it's something we'd like them to learn. It's kind of a history for them as well," Bruens explained adding it provides a hands-on lesson for them rather than just reading about the veterans. Last month, Bruens said a Legion member had tracked down approximately 31 local First World War veterans. Bruens said she anticipates the grave tracking project to wrap up by May. Captain Zane Roberts, the commanding officer of the cadets said he hopes the project will provide more meaning to Remembrance Day for the youth. "We have to make sure that people that are growing up today grasp it as much as possible that there were thousands and thousands of people that left their homes to go over seas and a lot of them died and didn't come back," he said.
