Scugog man welcomes return of fallen brother

PORT PERRY -- This Remembrance Day, Fred St. Denis's brother has finally come home.

Decades after he was killed in combat during the Canadians' push into Ortona in late 1943, Corporal Meredith Patrick Joseph St. Denis was returned home, in spirit at least, on Sept. 21 after a small vial of earth from his grave marker in Italy was collected months ago.

It was during a student trip to the historic Second World War site, led by Port Perry High School teachers, in 2008 that the sample was collected by Pam Byers. More than a year later, Fred St. Denis, along with family members and a handful of representatives from the Port Perry Legion, returned the fallen soldier to his parents at a cemetery north of Toronto.

"It was sort of a relief, that some part of him ... is now home, rather than being so far away," said Mr. St. Denis recently.

The Canterbury Common resident had never travelled overseas to visit his brother's grave, but jumped at the opportunity to reconnect with his sibling after hearing that a collection of PPHS students were heading to Ortona.

"It was a chance to give us some closure with my brother being so far away. It was like bringing one of our soldiers back home," said Mr. St. Denis.

In 1941, with the war still in its infancy, a 24-year-old Meredith St. Denis joined the conflict, leaving his 15-year-old brother, Fred, behind in Toronto's west end.

"I was very close to him, he was like my mentor," said Mr. St. Denis.

Two years later, however, Meredith lost his life on Dec. 6, 1943 as the Canadians crossed the Moro River, just days before the push into the town of Ortona.

"I was at church, it was a Sunday morning, and when I came home my parents were very distraught and I was wondering what was happening," recalled Mr. St. Denis.

Soon after, a collection of Meredith's belongings was shipped home. Amongst the items, such as his watch and cigarette case, was a poem he had penned called Thoughts.

"When it came back, I wrote a sequel to it. It was just my way of connecting with him," said Mr. St. Denis.

Now, nearly 66 years after his brother's death, Mr. St. Denis has another way of connecting with him. Taking the vial of Italian earth to the Holy Cross Cemetery, family and friends watched as a small hole was dug near the St. Denis family's grave markers. The earth symbolic of Meredith St. Denis was then poured in.

"'Welcome home, old soldier' was what was said when they poured the earth in," recalled Mr. St. Denis, adding that Lucy Wilson, president of the Port Perry Legion, was also on hand to lead the group in a prayer.

The return of his brother, said Mr. St. Denis, will only further his efforts to keep the memory of Canada's fallen soldiers alive on Nov. 11.

"Remembrance Day is a very inspiring day, it's very uplifting to remember our veterans and let them know we will not forget them," said Mr. St. Denis.

"We will keep remembering them, always."