Man Digs Up Father's Gravestone, Plans to Return War Medals
A man dug up his father's headstone and brought it to a Veterans Affairs Canada office, more than two decades after he was buried in St. John's, because the department failed to look after the gravesite —and now he plans to return the Second World War veteran's medals.Gerald Fleming was a Second World War veteran who died in 1988. He was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Mount Pearl. Veterans Affairs paid for his headstone, but Fleming said the department failed to take care of it.
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Comments
This is really a shame. Eliminating sextons from cemeteries can't be the choice of the people, but since the deceased are no longer voters, the government doesn't care. I suppose this is a job for volunteers to ensure it gets done on a regular basis. You cannot count on the government for things that are not "what are you going to give us" programs.
This is disgraceful to say the lease. Where is the respect that our vets deserve. So sad. They need to be ashamed of themselves for allowing this to happen.
Whose father was this? If the man was close enough to see the neglect - perhaps he was close enough to honor his own father! We have several "VA" paid for grave markers in our family - well earned, totally deserved. But it NEVER crossed our mind that the government needed to "care" for the grave site - unless it was located in a national cemetery. Is St. John's a national cemetery?