A small Canadian flag flaps gently in the cool morning breeze. Under a clear blue sky a lone soldier walks among the solemn graves placing a bright red poppy on the headstones belonging to his fallen comrades.
It is a lonely task, but Doug Cooper, a former member of the Lord Strathconas Horse, is simply picking up where someone left off.
On the anniversary of D-Day, June 4, Cooper, dressed in his Strathcona uniform, visited the Okotoks to place a wreath on the cenotaph downtown. While he was in town he decided to visit the Okotoks cemetery to see if there was a cenotaph.
What he discovered was something he described as “incredible.”
When he arrived at the cemetery and he was stunned to see someone had been placing the iconic red poppies, usually worn on Remembrance Day, on the headstones in the veterans’ area.
“It was the first time I had seen it,” said Cooper who spends his summers camping in Okotoks. “Who ever started it, it is just fabulous.”
Cooper said he expects the poppies were placed on the headstones on Remembrance Day.
The culprit simply put a dab of silicon on the top corner of the headstone and stuck the poppy into the silicon by its pin.
Cooper has been visiting the Okotoks cemetery on a regular basis this summer replacing some of the weathered, worn or missing poppies.
Now he is actively seeking the person who is responsible for starting the trend. Not because he is upset, quite the contrary, he wants to see if the person would like some help.
“Whoever did this, if they want a hand, if they need more poppies or would like to do it at the other cemeteries, I don’t want to interfere, but maybe we can help,” said Cooper.
Cooper has done some investigating inquiring with the Town of Okotoks and the Heritage House but no one knew anything about the mysterious poppies.
The Strathcona veteran said he would like to expand the idea to the other cemeteries in the area including the Foothills Cemetery, Blackie and High River, where his uncle is buried.
He said the act of placing a poppy on a veteran’s headstone shows the people still care and remember the sacrifices of Canada’s armed forces.
“It doesn’t take away from the stone or interfere with it,” said Cooper. “I don’t think the veterans’ families would get upset by it.
“The poppies are respecting the guys. They paid the ultimate sacrifice and they really deserve our respect.”
Cooper said when a veteran sees a poppy on Remembrance Day they think of the friends they lost, friends who were extremely special, friends who were like family during trying times.
A small Canadian flag flaps gently in the cool morning breeze. Under a clear blue sky a lone soldier walks among the solemn graves placing a bright red poppy on the headstones belonging to his fallen comrades.
Doug Cooper checks on the poppies an anonymous donor has been placing on the veterans’ gravestones in the Okotoks cemetery.
It is a lonely task, but Doug Cooper, a former member of the Lord Strathconas Horse, is simply picking up where someone left off.
On the anniversary of D-Day, June 4, Cooper, dressed in his Strathcona uniform, visited the Okotoks to place a wreath on the cenotaph downtown. While he was in town he decided to visit the Okotoks cemetery to see if there was a cenotaph.
What he discovered was something he described as “incredible.”
When he arrived at the cemetery and he was stunned to see someone had been placing the iconic red poppies, usually worn on Remembrance Day, on the headstones in the veterans’ area.
“It was the first time I had seen it,” said Cooper who spends his summers camping in Okotoks. “Who ever started it, it is just fabulous.”
Cooper said he expects the poppies were placed on the headstones on Remembrance Day.
The culprit simply put a dab of silicon on the top corner of the headstone and stuck the poppy into the silicon by its pin.
Cooper has been visiting the Okotoks cemetery on a regular basis this summer replacing some of the weathered, worn or missing poppies.
Now he is actively seeking the person who is responsible for starting the trend. Not because he is upset, quite the contrary, he wants to see if the person would like some help.
“Whoever did this, if they want a hand, if they need more poppies or would like to do it at the other cemeteries, I don’t want to interfere, but maybe we can help,” said Cooper.
Poppies have been mysteriously placed on the headstones of the veterans’ plots at the Okotoks cemetery. Veteran Doug Cooper would like to find the person responsible to help to continue and even expand their work.
Cooper has done some investigating inquiring with the Town of Okotoks and the Heritage House but no one knew anything about the mysterious poppies.
The Strathcona veteran said he would like to expand the idea to the other cemeteries in the area including the Foothills Cemetery, Blackie and High River, where his uncle is buried.
He said the act of placing a poppy on a veteran’s headstone shows the people still care and remember the sacrifices of Canada’s armed forces.
“It doesn’t take away from the stone or interfere with it,” said Cooper. “I don’t think the veterans’ families would get upset by it.
“The poppies are respecting the guys. They paid the ultimate sacrifice and they really deserve our respect.”
Cooper said when a veteran sees a poppy on Remembrance Day they think of the friends they lost, friends who were extremely special, friends who were like family during trying times.
Cooper was so impressed by the impact of the poppies at the Okotoks cemetery he is hoping to expand to include the other local cemeteries as well.
He said in the fall he may approach the high schools in Okotoks, Black Diamond and High River to enlist student volunteers to help place the poppies on the veterans’ headstones.
Cooper, who volunteers at the Strathcona Museum in Calgary and is a sought after speaker at schools for Remembrance Day ceremonies, said he believes students would be more than willing to help out with such a worthwhile cause.
“I think students would be happy to do it,” he said. “If you have a bunch of students helping it would be done so fast.”
Cooper said enlisting the help of students simply makes sense because it would be an opportunity for the younger generations to see who died for them in wars fought generations ago. It is an opportunity to ensure the sacrifices of Canada’s soldiers are not lost on the youth.
Although there are fewer veterans of World Wars remaining, Cooper said the significance of those battles are not lost on today’s children.
“When I spoke at Dr. Morris Gibson School last year a student gave me a handmade card,” he said. “When I was at Oilfields High School in Black Diamond some big, tough looking kids came up to me and shook my hand and said thanks. That just makes your day.
Anyone interested in helping Cooper with the poppy project can contact him at 403-861-7229.
Cooper is also planning to contact Veteran’s Affairs in hopes of having the veteran’s headstones in the Okotoks cemetery straightened.
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