It's a strong one. I think they were one of the first groups we went out to when, as a youth group, we first started the Memory Project in 2001.
After classrooms and teachers, cadets, for lack of a better term, “get it”. These are people who respect the importance of our military history, obviously, in terms of their training and the programming they work on within their units. They often come out to our events, whether it's a celebratory or a commemorative event, but we most like to have them at our training and orientation sessions. They sit with the veterans and talk to the veterans a little bit about their experiences. Some of these veterans themselves were cadets and some have grandkids who are cadets. They relate on all kinds of different levels.
So after a call to the Legion and to some of our local veterans associations, we'll go to the local cadet groups and their commanders, the heads of their units, to try to encourage them to attend events, sometimes in a formal role but oftentimes in an informal role, to sit with the veterans, eat with them, and learn about their experiences. Also, as I'm sure Mr. MacDonell will agree, the veterans themselves are so interested in the cadet experience and what it's like now: why they got into it, what they hope to do from the military side, whether they hope to eventually serve, which is often the case, and what kinds of experiences they're having with the cadets.
So it's a strong relationship and one that we think is a pretty obvious one. Again, we had a great event in Winnipeg last week, where we had with us a veteran from World War II and his son, who is a peacekeeper and who brought with him his son, who is an air cadet. They sat at the same table talking about the importance of intergenerational dialogue and sharing stories. We got some great photos of the three of them. They all came in their uniforms. The Second World War veteran still wears the same uniform he did in 1941, when he joined up. He's a slim, trim guy, and an amazing individual. To meet us with his grandson, who's probably about 16, was a great experience for him and his son, but it was also a great experience for us to see the real intergenerational approach to the Memory Project.
They are a good group to be involved with and to be engaged with throughout.