In the First, Second, and Korean Wars, Canadian soldiers were bolstered by a small contingent of individuals from many of the Latin-American countries. They came without request and without demands, only wanting to do their part in the fight for freedom from oppression. They made their own way to Canada, joined and fought with our soldiers, and, if lucky, went home again after the conflict, happy enough that they participated and survived. In 2021 the Latin American Soldiers Committee (LASC) was formed to bring the stories of these soldiers to light.
To see the pictures from the reception, CLICK HERE:
Beechwood Cemetery plays a large part in this committee as Nicolas McCarthy, Director of Marketing, Communications and Community Outreach, is one of the LASC board members and hosted the recent Pan American Day at one of Beechwood Cemetery’s reception spaces. Attendees included the Ambassador from the Embassy of Guatemala, Her Excellency Guisela Atalida Godinex Sazo, members of Latin cultural groups, and defence attachés from almost every Latin-American country. Even the defence attaché from Tunisia showed up to lend support.
Mr. McCarthy noted that the Pan American Day was a chance to bring the Latin American community up to speed on the LASC progress regarding ongoing research as well as the plans, direction and upcoming events of interest to the embassies and attachés.
Capt. Rey Garcia-Salas (another LASC board member) noted that in Canada, there are 1.2 million people who identify their first language as Spanish and the LASC wants that community to know how many Latins were in the military, how they participated, and the contributions they made. While the research is ongoing, it’s difficult because the information must all be verified and passing time makes this difficult, as does the anglicizing of names, poor record keeping, missing records, and even just getting access to records in Canada and foreign countries. Mr. McCarthy re-iterated the need for assistance from the Latin American embassies and defence attachés in continuing to work with the LASC so that these soldiers get the recognition that they deserve. That being said, the LASC last year presented the first volume of work memorializing the stories of these soldiers (“Latin American Soldiers in Canada, Vol. 1”).
Mr. McCarthy also let everyone know that the LASC is now federally incorporated which gives it federal status meaning they can look for funding opportunities and partnerships to expand LASC’s work. It also means that the LASC will live on past the founding members and continue to build the knowledge base of people and exploits, all-the-while making connections between communities in Canada and the Latin American countries.
He also let everyone know that a petition has been started asking the government for official recognition of the Latin American Remembrance Day to be held on the third Sunday in October, which is during Latin Heritage Month. This year the third “unofficial” Latin American Remembrance Day will be held on the 6th October, 2024, at Beechwood Cemetery hosted by the Embassy of Peru in Canada.
The event finished off with recognition of two groups for fostering leadership in Latin American communities and culture in Canada with the presentation of plaques. The first was to the Casa Cultural Peruana Inc. from Toronto who also made a presentation of ongoing research and the problems they encounter trying to verify soldiers and their histories. The second award was to the Centre Cultural Jaguar IX Balam from Montreal which was received by three ladies in cultural dress.
If you wish to learn more about the Latin American Soldiers Committee, please go to this link:
https://latinsoldiers.ca/
