A local Cochrane man is looking for public assistance in identifying individuals who have served for our country.

Jerry Peddle, a retired Veteran of 31 years, is wanting to honour and recognize members who have once served in the military in hopes to educate the public on the important role they once played. Peddle is hoping to recognize all gravesites by placing a poppy, a Canada flag, and a coin on each headstone, hopefully every November. The coin has a meaning of significance which started years ago.

"Significance of the coin started at the Vietnam War era when there was a lot of protest and people wanted to discretely honour their veterans when visiting their graves. They would leave a penny at the graveside if they didn't really know the person, they would leave a nickel if they trained with the person, they would leave a dime if they served with that person, and in most significance, a quarter if they had been with that person when they died."

The idea of Peddle's mission comes from a larger campaign, known as 'No Stone Left Alone'.

"Originally, No Stone Left Alone was for students to maintain a connection with their veterans; they would actually go out to the graves and put a poppy there."

Peddle says it is important for the youth and the general public to not only remember, but understand.

"When I was growing up the veterans were the old folks that I would see every Remembrance Day; the World War 1 veterans are all gone now, the World War 2 veterans aren't sticking around either, and Korean War veterans are getting older. We do have a new batch of veterans from our recent conflicts, United Nations and NATO peacekeeping and peacemaking tours . I think it is very important the youth and general public understand the sacrifice that was being made for them.

If you have a loved one that once served and is buried in the Cochrane Cemetery, Peddle would love to hear from you at, jerry_in_nb@yahoo.ca