Lost Veterans Initiative Field Notes No.3

Volunteer researcher and Veteran Steve St-Amant “pays it forward”

LCdr (Retired) Steve St. Amant joined the Last Post Fund Nova Scotia Branch as a member in 2018, and is now Vice-President of that Branch.

A Veteran himself, he strives to "pay forward" the assistance his own father received from the Last Post Fund for a military burial, by continuing to search for Lost Veterans who did not get that opportunity. Thanks to Steve's volunteer work, dozens of families have been referred to the LPF for assistance under the Funeral & Burial Program, and many more Unmarked Grave cases he submitted have been approved or are currently under review by the Fund.

All of our Lost Veterans Initiative volunteers are essential as our "boots on the ground" helping to find and identify unmarked Veterans graves. We thank Steve St. Amant for time and effort he devotes to his meticulous research work, as well as the efforts towards making the Initiative known to the public.

Last February, Steve granted an interview to student journalist Jon Werbitt. The story resulting from the interview was published to The Signal. Below is a brief excerpt:

Unmarked graves

While the Fund provides means-tested financial assistance to help families bury their vets, they also secure gravestones for those who were buried and left without one.

Most people wouldn’t think twice about a gap in a row of gravestones. But for St. Amant, who oversees the Unmarked Graves Program in Nova Scotia, a missing stone is the beginning of an investigation.

He said that gaps are often indicators of an unmarked grave.

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Field Notes is a newsletter dedicated to highlighting the work of Last Post Fund volunteer researchers contributing to the Lost Veterans Initiative. If you are interested in finding out more about the Initiative, please contact Last Post Fund at info@lastpost.ca or by calling: 1-800-465-7113.