MY UNKNOWN SOLDIER
As the 21st Century stretched into its first summer, I was handed a small meta box, very much like the cash-box a flea market vendor might use. Nothing unusual about the box, but it’s contents were something else. The man who gave it to me said he found it in a roadside ditch and thought I might do something with it.
It was a Soldier paybook, medals, and a driving permit. This was my introduction to Sergeant Stanley George Vidimour.
HE WAS A SOLDIER
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Grew up like you and me;
Came as a boy to Ontario
From Britains Isle of Guernsey.
Through the days of World War II
He served our country, proud.
Fighting abroad for a quarter a day,
That was all our government allowed.
Two-thousand-and-86 days he spent
In the service of his King
For one-thousand-and-25-dollars
And 89 cents.
He was a Soldier.
Like many of the young men
Heroes of that Day,
Willing to stand and fight for us
Who stand here, FREE, Today.
He held the rank of Sergeant
On the day he was discharged;
It was June 3rd, 1946.
His medals, stripes and paybook
I now hold in my hand;
All that’s left to tell us
The mettle of a man
WHO WAS A SOLDIER.
Since August of 2000, I have been on a quest for relatives of Sgt. George Stanley Vidimour, hoping to get these mementos to them.
This much I know; in 1998, he purchased a camera and photographic equipment, which suggests that he was planning a trip, perhaps with several WWII Vets to a memorial occasion of some kind.  I searched the city of St. Thomas, Ontario, surrounding areas, the internet, and the Elgin Regiment but to no avail. My search for my unknown soldier continues…and his story needs to be told LEST WE FORGET.
