Soldiers Of Suicide Candleligth Ceremony, Ottawa ON

There were only a few people in attendance at the Beechwood Military Ceremony due to a snow storm and bad weather but we were there to honour and pay our respects to and for the families of the soldiers that lost their battle with PTSD and took their lives, believing they could not continue on with the hell they were still going through.

We not only honour the soldiers themselves and their service to Canada but the soldiers’ families who continue to heal themselves and other families who share a similar path. Their openness in sharing what they have gone through since losing their loved one and the continued support of the Canadian Forces soldiers they still have is something to behold.

The group called “Honour Our Canadian Soldiers” (HOCS) are friends and families that have provided a place, a venue for these families to gather once a year to honour their lost loved ones and to hopefully bring attention to the problem of PTSD and other medical distresses that would cause people to choose suicide.

12 Soldiers were honoured today, Saturday 21 Feb 2015. This is the day that was chosen to not only honour those who have lost their battle to PTSD, but to honour their service in the Military, and especially their families left behind and to also speak out about PTSD and other distresses that our Military may have in the hopes that this will bring about a change for them, another way to handle their troubles without suicide.

I was so very privileged when Lise Charron and Jason Mullis (Funding Rep) asked me to join the group in September 2013, and along with Rick Hummell we attended the pre-meal with a few of the families of our lost soldiers, having the chance to speak with them and learn more about what PTSD entails than we knew before. The next day we met at Beechwood National Military Cemetery to have a service with the SOS Soldiers tree and to honour our soldiers and their families and show that we care. We care from the heart and will continue to help all that we can whenever and wherever it is needed.

These particular 12 soldiers, with permission from their families to use their names are:
Cpl Stuart Langridge, Cpl Anthony Reed, MCpl Bobby Saulnier,  Lt Shawna Rogers, MCpl Victor Rémillard, Cpl Adam Eckhardt, Pte Frédérick Couture, Cpl Jamie McMullin, Cpl Justin Stark, MCpl Stéphane Legendre, Pte Thomas Welch and PFC Joshua Fueston (from the U.S. Military).

We are hoping to bring more attention to the problems of PTSD amongst our soldiers and even our allies if it comes to that, and to continue to have discussions to find better ways of dealing with this major problem. As an added note, PTSD is not restricted to just soldiers, but also to our fine first responders:  police, firefighters and EMS crews that are “in the trenches” every day.


We have for two years now gone to Beechwood no matter what the weather, shoveled out to the plaque in front of the SOS tree and had a small ceremony to coincide with the other ceremonies that have started in a few places in different provinces. We will continue to hold these same candlelight ceremonies each 21 Feb along with other provinces until all families who have lost their loved ones due to suicide have either found a candlelight place to honour them or there is no longer a need to hold a new ceremony because we will have helped with those suffering PTSD to take other routes to recovery.