Association looking for Canadians who served during the Vietnam era

The Canadian Vietnam Veterans Memorial Association which erected a CVVM monument in Windsor is looking for Canadians who served in the Vietnam War to be honored in July 2025. (KEITH TRACY SUBMITTED PHOTOS)

If you are a Canadian or have dual citizenship and served in the Vietnam War, you are wanted! Read this article for more information.

By Linda May

The Canadian Vietnam Veterans Memorial Association Chapter 1 is searching for perhaps as many as 40,000 Canadians, or people with dual citizenship, who served during the Vietnam era.

The CVVMA is responsible for a memorial — known by veterans as The North Wall — at Assumption Park on Riverside Drive in downtown Windsor, Ontario near the Ambassador Bridge.

Originators of the memorial included Americans Rick Gidner, the late Ed Johnson, and Chris Reynolds. They wanted to express their appreciation to the Canadians with whom they served.

People — especially those with Canadian citizenship who served in Vietnam or during the era — are invited to attend the 30th annual memorial service and rededication of the Canadian Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Sunday, July 6, 2025.

Taking place right now is the “Be Counted” effort, a quest to find more Canadians who served in the U.S. military. The accurate number of those who were Canadian citizens at the time of enlistment or draft is unknown to the organizers, but they want as many as possible to be recognized, counted, and be welcomed home. Proof of service and discharge, and Canadian citizenship is required. See canadiansinvietnam.com.

Keith Tracy of Windsor, a U.S. Army veteran who was assigned to Germany as an intelligence specialist after he enlisted in 1964, is working with genealogist CJ Scott in doing the research and data collection. They have heard from people all over Canada and the United States who want to be part of the 2025 event.

Tracy said there are 171 Canadians on the memorial who died in Vietnam, and two more names will be added soon. Seven are still missing in action and are unaccounted for.

One of the names of the deceased is Greg Rindy, a Canadian-born man who attended Roseville High School. His sister Pam Reed said he arrived in Vietnam in April 1968 and was killed in action two weeks later. He is buried at Cadillac Memorial Gardens.

Canadian veterans typically did not talk a lot about their service in Vietnam.

“Technically, back in day, it was illegal for Canadians to join, but because of the close relationship between Canada and the U.S., this has kind of been overlooked. It’s really not something that was enforced,” Tracy, a retired welder and truck driver, said. “Canadians served in the Civil War, if you want to go back that far. There are Canadians who are in the U.S. military today.”

Tracy thought he was pretty much alone in his U.S. military service until he began finding neighbors and friends who were Vietnam veterans. Then he became acquainted with others because of the memorial.

“I just put my uniform aside,” Tracy said. “Like most Canadians, the only people who really knew we served were the family members. I didn’t belong to any Legion at the time. I just moved back into civilian life.”

He said that the memorial is supported by Royal Canadian Legions across the region but it took about a dozen years after the controversial and divisive war ended for the vets to be accepted.

There is unity and mutual respect now.

“The North Wall Riders Association was established after the memorial was built,” Tracy said.

That’s a group of motorcycle riders dedicated to supporting veterans functions, raising awareness of veterans, and supporting military service members.

“There was a small group who formed up the riders who came to us asking if they could use our symbol as part of their identification and we said yes,” Tracy said. “They’ve been a great organization throughout the years and supported veterans issues across the board, helping veterans in need and raising money. They are a separate unit to us and do their own thing. The Legion supports us and allows us to use their facilities for meetings.”

The CVVMA started collecting photos of the 173 people named on the monument. That led to the “Be Counted” project to see how many Canadian vets they could find. They got some good local and national publicity on their efforts.

“Six weeks later we were bombarded with information from people all across Canada and the United States. We just want to get as many as we can since we are also going to be going into the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. A lot of people in Canada never got any recognition. You know how hard it was for American Vietnam veterans, well, it was the same for Canadians. They just went home to their areas and closed the door. This is an important part of Canadian history. Come July 6 of next year we’ll publish the information we get,” Tracy said.

Tracy guessed 2,000 people might show up at the memorial for the celebration.

“We have family members who want to come. Some of the veterans have passed away. We have calls and emails from grandchildren who know all about their grandfathers’ service and just want to represent,” he said.

“We realize we are not going to reach 40,000 but we hope we get a good portion to come to Windsor and get a proper welcome home,” he said. “I know guys personally whose family didn’t know they served until three or four years ago because they just didn’t talk about it. A lot of guys in this country (Canadians) really did a lot of good stuff over there from all ranks and all branches of the service — from ground troops to pilots. It’s a history that needs to be saved.”

Tracy was a consultant on a book published last fall, “Canada’s Lost Sons of the Vietnam War,” by Jason B. Collins.

“We have never had a negative response over this and that tells me that the people out there don’t want memories to be lost,” he said.

An inscription on the memorial reads: “As long as we live, you shall live. As long as we live, you shall be remembered. As long as we live, you shall be loved.”

Eastpointe resident and Vietnam-era vet Mike Schneider said eight Canadians representing CVVMA came to the Vietnam Veterans of America Michigan State Council to enlist the help of VVA chapters to find Canadians and Canadian-Americans who volunteered or were drafted into service.

“There were six Canadians from Michigan who died in Vietnam,” Schneider said.

Their biographies are recorded in books that travel with the Michigan Vietnam Veterans Traveling Memorial circulated by VVA Chapter 154 of Clinton Township.

“The guys who wanted that memorial had trouble getting it put somewhere. They tried to do it in Ottawa, and they finally got the mayor of Windsor to say, yes, you can put it there. When it was dedicated in 1995, there was a giant amount of people there, tons of motorcycles, and a lot of our guys went over for the celebration,” he said.

There has been an annual service every July since 1995 to honor those who died or went missing. Please help to spread the word!

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This article originally appeared in the Macomb Daily newspaper on April 6, 2024.

For more information about Canadians who fought in the Vietnam War, please read my earlier article on this website: https://cherrieswriter.com/2015/11/13/lost-to-history-the-canadians-who-fought-in-vietnam/

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