Every Remembrance Day I’m reminded of this moment. Standing beneath the caribou at the memorial of the 700 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians that were killed at Beaumont Hamel during the Battle of the Somme in WWI. I was awarded the opportunity to study the battlefields and monuments of the first and second World War by UNB and the Gregg Centre For The Study of War and Society about eight years ago. I was tasked to write a biography about a soldier from my home town of St. John’s. I chose Sgt. Michael Francis Kelly who was born a few houses down from me. I dove into his military files, pulling every ounce of information I could from them: hospital records, letters home, and a myriad of forms. And put it down on paper. To have been offered the chance to deliver that monologue where he died is something I’ll never forget. It changed me in so many ways. They say the heart of this province can be found embedded in this rock we live on. But a big part of her soul can still be found pulsing beneath the green fields of France. #NewfoundlandRegiment #BetterThanTheBest #RemembranceDay
