TORONTO -- A group of middle school students honoured a First World War veteran from Fredericton, N.B., after they discovered he had been in an unmarked grave for nearly 100 years.
Teacher James Rowinski and students from George Street Middle School are studying the lives of local soldiers as part of a called The Fredericton Soldier Biography History Initiative (FSBHI).
While researching veterans, they came across Lt. Charles Blair, who had served for six years in the First World War. After returning from war, Blair took his own life at the age of 36 because of 鈥渟hell shock鈥�, which was a term coined to describe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
When Rowinski鈥檚 students found out that Blair had been in an unmarked grave, they decided he deserved to be honoured.
鈥淲e contacted the Last Post Fund to see if there had been a headstone erected for him and there hadn鈥檛 been,鈥� Rowinski told CTV News Atlantic. 鈥淪o they got all the work done for that and that鈥檚 why it鈥檚 here.鈥�
In a memorial service on Saturday, The Royal New Brunswick Regiment Blair, alongside his new headstone at Sunny Bank Cemetery in Fredericton.
鈥淗is story has finally come to light,鈥� said Rowinski.
Dora Graham, a student who researched Blair鈥檚 life, said he 鈥渄id a lot for the country.鈥�
鈥淗e was really hard-working,鈥� Graham said. 鈥淚鈥檝e never seen someone so devoted to the country.鈥�
