Walking tour at Hamilton Cemetery honours local veterans’ untold stories

A walking tour at the Hamilton Cemetery today uncovers untold stories of a generation etched in the fabric of our country. These stories of veterans who served our country are inspiring even as marble grave stones are weathered down through the years.

Local historian Robin McKee is conducting his last walking tour for the year this weekend leading up to Remembrance Day on Tuesday.

His “Stories in Stones Veterans Tour” at the Hamilton Cemetery is told through some of the names of over 70,000 souls buried there.

“The idea is that I take you to the stone in the family, and then I tell the people basically a bio of what they did during their lifetime that left a legacy for us today,” said McKee.

McKee says the walking tour is an opportunity for people to learn about history that’s not taught in school.

“I found that the niche was to tell people about their local history by the people that actually produced the history at the time of their lives,” said McKee.

The tour’s first stop, The Lost Monument, was where Hamilton’s first cenotaph was built in 1894, home to the first soldier’s plot in the cemetery.

There, McKee held a service to honour the sacrifices of those who served in the armed forces.

“We are the dead. Loved and we’re loved, and now we lie In Flanders Fields,” said McKee.

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Joining the tour today is Geoff Harrison, who took a little detour to stop by the grave site of not just anyone, rather people he simply calls mom and dad.

“My parents are here, Marion Harrison and Mervyn Harrison is my dad,” said Harrison.

His heroes are just two of countless descendants of Canadians buried here and he’s now sharing a story that may have never been told.

“My mother lost her house in a bomb right at the very initial stages of the war in September 1940. She was in several air raids and she survived, and my dad enlisted in Hamilton and went overseas,” said Harrison.

Harrison reflects on his parents and all the veterans’ contributions to the Second World War.

“I think we were very fortunate that generation served. They went through so much. I know it’s more than 80 years now but we owe an awful lot to them,” said Harrison.

Today some of Hamilton’s buried stories come to life for those who took part in the veterans tour and remembrance event.

“Specifically knowing that we have a veteran who opened up the first gates of a concentration camp but doesn’t have the credit because they’re a Canadian spy, so they didn’t tell anyone — that’s pretty to cool to have that like right here in our cemetery,” said Vivian Masswhol, a Hamilton resident.

The walking tour is meant to capture the essence of the specific community of people who rest here and those who served for the freedom of our nation.

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