A simple, unsigned letter delivered to Jerry Hind’s house April 15 re-confirmed his belief that the work being done by the Gathering Our Heroes effort has gone far beyond his personal circle of friends, veterans and acquaintances.
The envelope, which carried no return address, contained a hand-written note, a series of photographs of gravesites and was marked “attention – for hero soldiers.”
“Mr. Hind,” it began “I don’t know these soldiers/gentlemen – but as they are near where my family are buried, when I am able to go to the cemetery – as I see them always covered with dirt and almost covered – I usually clean them up as good as I can.”
“When they have the Memorial Day, (the letter continues), the flags are only on the soldiers in the cemetery – many people are not advised or notified of soldiers outside the field so I or other family members take a flag and flowers for these two gentlemen. It seems they have no family that even goes there for either one or maybe all family have passed as well.”
The letter concludes with the following:
“It is a shame that they get forgotten when outside the memorial or all [the] family passed and no one even puts a small flag of remembrance.
Maybe you can look into these three soldiers because I know “you do care”.
Thank you – from another Soldiers child.”
Hind said many veterans’ graves dot the cemetery and aren’t always maintained.
“People get old, pass on and families move,” he said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean a lack of respect but it means a lot when a member of the community steps up this way.”
The two graves mentioned are those of John Willmore and Leslie Peck, both of Chatham.
Willmore was a Gunner with the Royal Canadian Artillery. He enlisted in June of 1941 and was discharged on December 1, 1945. He died in 2006.
Peck, a member of the Kent Regiment, survived the war and died Dec. 30, 1976.
Hind said the letter writer is likely a longtime resident of Chatham since he or she seems to know something of the two men.
“I believe that Fred Peck was the vegetable seller; my father was a delivery boy for him before the war,” Hind explained. “Wilmore I believe was an ex-police officer (but) I’m not sure about that either. The police officer, I believe was Edward Roy “Ted” Willmore who also severed in WWII overseas with the Canadian Scottish Regt.”
Hind said the Gathering Our Heroes effort he helped launch four years ago and still curates, has taken on a life of its own.
“We get inquiries all of the time from Canada, the United States and Europe from someone looking for information about a loved one from Chatham and area,” he said. “The database now has more than 8,000 heroes in it.”
He said he and three researchers have read every issue of the Chatham Daily News from 1939 to 1946, looking for information as part of the project.
“You never know where you’re going to find something useful,” he said. “An item from one person or family will sometimes lead you to information to track down scores of others.”
Hind can be contacted at 519-352-2574. The group’s website is http://www.gatheringourheroes.ca/
Hind said he hopes the letter writer reads the Voice and will contact him.
“I want to thank him or her and tell them ‘you did the right thing’. It’s obvious that the person behind the letter isn’t looking for anything but I’d like them to know just how much the story touched my heart,” he said.
