Service Not Forgotten
Young pupils in both the United States and the Commonwealth are taught to memorize the historical dates, locations, and the names of leaders of the three great conflicts of the 20th century. Though important to give a brief understanding of the world we live in, these lessons often forget to highlight the everyday people whose lives were forever changed during them. As result, so many who sacrificed and in some instances lost everything, are only remembered via a rarely visited memorial or by a plaque in a town square, if at all. Yet had they not answered their nation's call to service, the countries we dwell in would be a shadow of themselves.
They came from every corner of the earth and all walks of life, but shared one thing in common, their loyalty and selfness. These heroes in our midst are deserving of their stories being told, which is what this website attempts to do. Behind each item is the legacy of an individual, whose service is retold through a carefully crafted narrative which draws upon historical works to help give a glimpse into their life. Some stories are those of triumph over an enemy well others are of tragedy and the stark realties of conflict. Each person's experience was unique and they are told as such. So please take a moment to read and remember them. |
Behind the Collection
The collection began quite a few years before the idea of having a website was even conceived. As a teenager, I was always fascinated with military history, a passion that would transcend my youth into my young adult years as I began collecting military related items. For awhile these were a combination of just about anything I could get my hands on and it was not until I received an incredibly personal item that my focus shifted to research. One Christmas I was presented with my Great Grandfather's military side cap, something that I had no idea still even existed. This of course spurred me on a quest for gathering whatever information I could scrounge about him and first introduced me to research. A few years later, I was accumulating medals and named items to preserve and ever so slowly improving my research skills. Then in my first year of college, 2018, a reaction to an important historical milestone occurred that shocked me, the one-hundred year anniversary of the First World War Armistice. What shocked me about the reaction was that it was minimal, in fact, few my age both in the United States and Canada were even away it had occurred let alone remembered any soldiers who served in that war. It was rather an eye-opener and drove me to do something that might serve as a medium to help educate others on the gravity and importance of such conflicts.
Eventually, the idea of this website was born. Heavily inspired by the existing RCM Collection, I set out to put together a website that paid homage to the many soldiers whose items I had been entrusted to be the care taker of. For me it became a personal mission, as I especially set out to honor those who served in the three nations my family has called home over the last 100 years; the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. As I have aged and the collection has expanded, my appreciation of the service and sacrifices of these prior generations only continues to grow. It is my hope that the collection will continue to accumulate items and that the website will always properly portray those it seeks to honor. |