Tonya De AgostinisOn November 4th, 2019, the National Military Cemetery at Beechwood, Ottawa, hosted a No Stone Left Alone event where school students, soldiers, and the community at large unite in a remembrance experience.
The ceremony involves students placing poppies on each and every soldier’s headstone in different sections of the cemetery to honour Canada’s fallen military.
“Part of our role here at Beechwood Cemetery, the National Military Cemetery’s role is to help children understand the sacrifice and help them connect in a meaningful way. No Stone Left alone gives them another element of remembrance beyond what they do for Remembrance Day at School,” said Nick McCarthy.
Beechwood Cemetery welcomes all schools, primary and secondary, and Cadet Corps, who would like to participate in this unique event.
No Stone Left Alone Memorial Foundation is among the leading agencies dedicated to honouring and remembering Canada’s veterans. The unique ceremony provides students and youth with an authentic experience that creates knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of those who serve and of the sacrifice of Canada’s fallen.
No Stone Left Alone was launched in 2011 by Maureen G. Bianchini-Purvis in recognition of the sacrifice of the Canadian men and women who have lost their lives in the service of peace, at home and abroad. It became her mission to see that one day all of the soldiers’ headstones would have a poppy placed in their honour and the cemetery would resemble the idea of the poem Flanders Fields by John McCrae, where the poppies grow “row on row.”
In 2018, 9,236 students participated in 105 cemeteries, where 58,941 Canadian Armed Forces members were honoured.
