Claire Léger was the 2024 Silver Cross Mother for Lancaster Legion Branch 544. It is an honour borne for many years with mixed emotions – proud to be the recipient of the title and yet wishing her son, Marc, could still be with the family.
Sergeant Marc Daniel Léger was killed in Afghanistan during a friendly fire incident April 17, 2002.
Each service that the Légers attend is special, but more so in Lancaster since this is where Marc played, grew up, worked in the local grocery store and gas station and this is where he rests. People knew Marc and the whole family, and in a small town like Lancaster, many felt the loss closely. The year that Marc passed, children from a local school planted flags in their yard and paused for a few moments to show their respect. Even though the Légers no longer live in South Glengarry, they return every year on Remembrance Day.
In 2005, Claire was the National Silver Cross Mother. She said it was a heavy burden representing all mothers who have gone through the same hell. One has pride to be laying a wreath as the Silver Cross Mother and sympathy for their pain and loss – it’s a club of which one doesn’t want to be part. And yet, there are precious moments as well. When four-year-old children at the Stittsville Public School do their best to be quiet to show respect, Claire feels their efforts are sweet and she and her husband, Richard, feel lucky and proud to share in the school’s Remembrance Day service.
In 1936, the first Silver Cross Mother, Charlotte Susan Wood from Manitoba, placed a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Westminster Abbey in England on behalf of all Canadian mothers who had lost a child serving in the military, air force or navy. Then in 1950 through nomination and selection, Canada’s first National Silver Cross Mother was chosen by the Royal Canadian Legion. That year, Susan Beasley from Ontario laid a wreath at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Remembrance Day, on behalf of every Canadian mother who had lost a child in service.
A Memorial Cross, made of silver, suspended by a bar (originally by a purple ribbon), engraved with the name and service number of the person it commemorates is granted by the federal government. The cross was originally issued to mothers and widows on behalf of persons losing their lives in active combat and became known as the Silver Cross. Today, this Silver Cross is also granted to the mothers of those who have lost their lives due to their service for Canada.
Being the Silver Cross Mother brings the tragedy of the loss of her son to the forefront, but Claire and Richard feel strongly that this is their way that they can share the burden of the loss of their son. “This is the way we make sure he’s not forgotten,” said Claire. “This is the position I’ve been given – this is the position I take.”
