Remembrance Dog Tags

When you don't have a family connection with someone in the military, it can be difficult to feel involved with remembrance. This dog tag activity is designed to help youth 'put a face on remembrance'. Over 118,000 people lost their lives serving Canada over the years. These people came from various walks of life, were young and old, men and women, spoke English, French or other languages, were in the army, air force, navy, merchant navy. Many of them gave their lives so we could live in a free country.

Directions

• Print the dog tag cards on cardboard paper for added strength:
  • dog tags of some Canadians who died in service in different conflicts over the years (PDF)
  • Special-themed dog tags of Canadian fallen
    • Afghanistan
    • Beaumont-Hamel
    • Canadians buried alone
    • D-day
    • Dieppe
    • Fallen Canadian peacekeepers
    • Hong Kong
    • Hockey
    • Indigenous
    • Italy
    • Korea
    • Last Hundred Days
    • Netherlands
    • Passchendaele
    • Scheldt
    • Somme
    • Vimy
    • Women
• Cut out the individual pieces.
• Make a hole in each of the dog tags and attach a piece of string or a name tag metal chain.
• Distribute the dog tags to students.
• Have students research the individual on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial (CVWM) section of the Veterans Affairs Canada Web site.
• Have students present 'his' or 'her' fallen to the class. Discuss the age of the individual, his place of origin, etc.

You may also wish to have students research fallen soldiers from their community or region and create their own dog tags. If there is no picture of the person on the CVWM, you could try to find one by contacting relatives of the deceased individual. Any additional information (pictures, newspaper clippings or other pertinent information) could be submitted to the CVWM.

You could wear the dog tags at the Remembrance Day assembly at your school or town cenotaph.