The Unknown Soldier
Twenty-one years ago on May 28, 2000, a horse-drawn RCMP gun carriage carrying the remains of an unknown Canadian soldier on his final journey, made the short trip from Parliament Hill to the National War Memorial in Ottawa. While this was the soldier’s final trip, his journey home to Canada was long and made possible, in part by the work of The Royal Canadian Legion.
The Legion worked closely with the Government of Canada and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, as part of the Canadian Millennium Program, to honour the sacrifices of Canada’s soldiers by repatriating an unknown Canadian who was killed in the battle of Vimy Ridge.
On May 16, 2000, the body of an unknown Canadian soldier was exhumed from the Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery in Souchez, France. He was flown to Canada on a military plane, and his casket laid in state, under the Peace Tower in Hall of Honour of Parliament’s Centre Block for three days.
The soldier was taken to the National War Memorial and interred, at home, with full military honours in a silver maple casket. Legion members deposited soil from all provinces and territories, along with some from his original grave in France. With his sarcophagus sealed, his tomb now serves to honour all those Canadian servicemen and servicewomen who died in combat, past and future.
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