Manitoba volunteers work to ensure all veterans' graves have headstones

George McKay checks on his dad's headstone in the veteran section at the Brandon Municipal Cemetery. Private Gordon McKay has been gone for 27 years, but his son says it's important to be able to visit. Not every family has that privilege, with hundreds of veterans in Manitoba buried in unmarked graves. Isn't that sad? But that really resonates with me. I'm like, no, that can't, that's not right. You've got to do something. McKay decided to volunteer for the Last Post Fund. It's a national non-profit supplying headstones for military personnel buried without one. The fund says there are more than 600 in Manitoba. Those poor souls, they fought for the country. Now they've been forgotten about, you know, with time, you know, and who knows what their circumstances was. McKay and fellow researcher Laura Cruikshanks pored over lists of people buried in western Manitoba, cross-referenced thousands of names with records of Canadian war veterans, and have already helped place headstones in Birtle and Minidosa. They happily accept referrals, but in one case, Cruikshanks noticed an unmarked grave herself. So I researched and found that, yes, he was in fact a veteran who had served. And so I made an application and he ended up having a stone placed. So it was quite rewarding to go back and look at the stone. The Last Post Fund carries out its mission for Veterans Affairs Canada. Service members are also eligible for dignified funerals and burials if they can't afford one. Veteran Bob Patruluk is grateful. I am in the Armed Forces. I set my life down. For Canada at that time, and I think it's great to know that they have your back in case something is needed. Everyone should know about that program. It should be out there more. Corporal Jennifer MacDonald says it's important. Yes, because no one should be forgotten. In the past three decades, in cemeteries across the country, more than 10,000 unmarked graves have been given a name. Their service and sacrifice set in stone. Michelle McDougall, CBC News, Brandon.