Sponsor a marker for a fallen soldier for Op Husky 2023

For a $150 donation you can sponsor a personalized Marker for each of the 562 soldiers and aviators who died in Operation Husky. Only 16 aviators are among the numbers in the cemeteries in Sicily. In total another 138 died before the official campaign and after. These men are honoured at cenotaphs in Malta, Tunisia and Cassino. Their contribution to the Sicilian campaign has never been recognized with a special ceremony. Your name will be written on the back of the marker in recognition of your donation.

IF YOU ARE SUPPORTING A SPECIFIC REGIMENT OR SOLDIER or AVIATOR: Please write this information in the "Message of support", so that we can write your name on the back of a marker.

This project is in support of the International Forum for Peace, Security & Prosperity which engages youth in commemorations and the study of what makes peace really happen.

Our Forum in March was very successful. We were the largest ever international assembly of Officer Cadets from military academies. Over 1,000 high school students joined us, hundreds joined us for the Walk for Remembrance & Peace too. Visit www.psp-forum.org for the pictures and press summary. To leverage this success are now working with British and American allies to create a Peace conference in Catania, Sicily July 7th and 8th. At this conference we will launch the Guidebook and History book that will guide future visitors to Sicily along the path of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division. The "Walk for Remembrance & Peace" is the first trail of its kind in all of Italy.

Starting July 10th, a group of 20 Canadians will follow in the footsteps of the 25,000 Canadian soldiers who fought in Sicily during World War II. Along their 325 km march, they will plant personalized soldiers’ markers to honour the 562 men who died on Sicilian soil during the summer of 1943. An additional 202 Canadians died in the days leading to the invasion and in the days following the departure of the Canadians as they moved onto the mainland. These 202 (138 Aviators included) have never been the subject of any commemorations. From July 10 to July 30th, a daily ceremony will be held in which each of the 764 soldiers will be honoured. They brought peace to Sicily but the battles in which they fought were brutal, ravaging many of the Sicilian towns through which they passed.

In the spring of 2023, students in Canada and Sicily will help prepare up to 800 markers. Students in Sicily will be writing messages to our fallen soldiers and markers for the civilians who died in the war. Working together, these students are learning about each other’s shared history and will honour the sacrifice of those who died on all sides.

You can help the marchers of Operation Husky 2023 honour the sacrifice of our dead by sponsoring your own soldier’s marker. All proceeds will help us bring Canadian volunteers and veterans to the march.