Canadian veteran who served in Afghanistan finds healing in identifying unmarked graves of soldiers

A Canadian veteran who served in Afghanistan has made it his life's mission to provide proper grave markersforthose who served in Canada's military.

For the last six years,Kyle Scotthas been researching unmarked graves of soldiers interred in cemeteries across Alberta and B.C.

Scott, who hails from Whitecourt, Alta., served in the Canadian Armed Forces for seven-and-a-half years as a combat engineer.He was deployed to Afghanistan twice, in 2004 and 2006, before receiving a military citation and discharge from military service in 2008.

Now a service officer for the Royal Canadian Legion in Whitecourt, the 41-year-oldspends time visiting graves of soldiers to see if theyneed maintenance and note those that are missing a headstone.

All Points West8:53Afghanistan veteran finds healing in identifying unmarked graves

Kyle Scott, a veteran of two tours in Afghanistan, found relief from trauma by identifying the unmarked graves of other veterans and acquiring headstones for them.

Over the last couple of years, he has been working to identifyveterans buried in Victoria's Ross Bay Cemetery.

The seaside cemetery hasspecial meaning forhim, Scott told CBC's All Points West hostJason D'Souza.

"My mother's side of the family is from Victoria," he said. "They lived about two blocksfrom Ross Bay."

Scott saidhundreds of veterans are buried in thecemetery,manyin unmarked graves in empty grassy areas.

He says he has identified 290 veterans buried there and 140 new military markers have been erectedon grave sites that werepreviously unmarked.

"Many more are in the process of being manufactured as we speak and the work continues," Scott added.

Unmarked grave sites haveno permanent headstones so attaching a name tothe decedenttakes a bit of research.

Often there are emptyspaces in between rows of graves in the veterans' section of a cemetery, he says, with clear depressions in the ground evidencethat a person is buried beneath without a marker.

At that point, Scott contacts the cemetery caretakerto learn more.

"Butsome cemeteriesdon't maintain good recordsand then I have to look through burial records, obituaries andsurfthe internet," he said.

Once a name isidentified, he starts cross-referencing it against military records and Library andArchives Canada.

"After I have verified the person is a veteran, Isubmit an applicationto the Last Post Fund," Scott said.

The fund has a goal of ensuring that no Canadian veteran is denied a dignified funeral, burial or military gravestone. It works in support of the Veterans Affairs Canada funeral and burial program.

In researching veterans for the project, Scott also connected with local historianSheryl Walker who took photos of grave sites in Ross Bay and investigated the plots through an online database of cemetery records.

Walker, who runs a Facebook page called Ross Bay Cemetery Stories Beyond the Graves in Victoria, has been researching the cemetery since the early '70s.

"The cemetery has just transformed,"Walker said. "Lots of places in Ross Bay used to be this large empty expanse of unmarked graves but now headstones are popping up like flowers."

A way to heal

Scott saysidentifying the unmarked graves of veterans and acquiring headstones for them has helped him withhis own trauma.

Shortly after returning fromAfghanistan's Kandahar provincein 2006, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

"I knew I was different coming home," he said.

"When I had to blow off steam, I would go to my local cemetery and field of honourand spend time there. It felt like they understood me."

During one of Scott's visits he noticed some headstones were in disarray,crumbling and in need of repair.The thought of a soldier who served for his country not having a proper headstone bothered him.

"I thought that was unacceptable," he said.

Since then Scott has been on a quest to identify as many unmarked graves as he can a mission he describes as therapeutic.