Victoria filmmaker's 5-year, cross-country journey interviewing Canada's remaining WWII vets
Eric Brunt was a UBC film student in 2016 when his grandfather died at the ripe old age of 95.
Clifford Brunt was a Second World War veteran, but his grandson didn’t know much about his service. It inspired Brunt to do a school project interviewing other local veterans.
”It was 10 men to begin with in Vancouver and Victoria. And I fell in the love with the process of being welcomed into their homes and into their lives,” said Brunt, who now lives in Montreal and works for Melki Films.
Since those first interviews in 2016, the project has grown to include 507 Second World War veterans from all across Canada.
“The final end product, all my interviews are going to be in the Canadian War Museum as part of their database, and this database is going to be accessible to the public for free. And they’re also going to create a digital exhibition using some of my work,” said Brunt, who is dropping off hard drives of the first 200 interviews at the war museum in Ottawa on Tuesday.
“Whatever they feel comfortable sharing with me, I view that as a little treasure of their story that needs to be preserved, and it’s my job and now the war museum’s job to keep that safe.”
While most Canadians pause to remember war veterans on Remembrance Day, Brunt has heard the stories of the men and women who served for the past five years.
“This is every day of my life, I’m listening to these stories, and it really helps me appreciate my life, the freedom I have, the ability I have to do the work that I do,” he said. “We have the one day, but these veterans live with this every single day of their lives. They think about these events, some of them are haunted by them, so they try and forget and never will.”
While the stories he heard were all unique, they had one thing in common.
“All these veterans tell me war is hell, it’s a terrible thing,” said Brunt. “War has to be avoided at all costs, and never glorify war. That’s not what Remembrance Day is about, that’s not what the project is about.”
“That’s what I hope this project gets across that if we know how bad war is, it’s something we won’t – at least in Canada – repeat.”
With wars now raging in Ukraine and Gaza, Brunt says the words of the veterans carry even more weight today.
“It’s all part of our history all part of the fabric of who we are as Canadians today, and it’s important to learn, now more than ever,” he said.
The 507 interviews should be added to the Canadian War Museum database by the end of 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6778341.1708561001!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'I got no remorse': Greg Fertuck, convicted of murdering missing spouse, sentenced to life in prison
Greg Fertuck will spend life behind bars with no chance of parole until he is 90 years old, a judge ruled on Thursday at Saskatoon's Court of King's Bench.
'Ford's dry summer begins': All LCBO stores closed as workers go on strike
All LCBO stores are closed on Friday as thousands of workers hit the picket lines after their union and employer failed to reach an agreement.
Britain's Labour on track for landslide victory, exit poll suggests, amid anger with Conservatives
Britain's Labour Party headed for a landslide victory Friday in a parliamentary election, an exit poll suggested, as voters punished the governing Conservatives after 14 years of economic and political upheaval.
Saskatchewan has the lowest hourly minimum wage. How does it stack up to the rest of Canada?
Hourly minimum wages increased in several Canadian provinces this spring with more on the horizon, which economists say will likely impact workers and businesses differently.
Trying to sell or buy a home this summer? What a realtor says you should know
In the first few weeks of summer, the real estate sector is experiencing an upturn marked by more housing inventory, a Canadian realtor says
No Frills grocery stores drop 'multi-buy' offer
As receipts tick ever higher for Canadians at the grocery store and shoppers continue to search for savings, one Canadian grocer has ended a perceived deal.
Hurricane Beryl churns toward Mexico after leaving destruction in Jamaica and eastern Caribbean
After leaving a trail of destruction across the eastern Caribbean and at least nine people dead, Hurricane Beryl weakened as it chugged over open water toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Thursday, going from the earliest Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic to Category 2 by the afternoon.
CSIS director David Vigneault stepping down after seven years on the job
David Vigneault says he is stepping down from his job at the head of Canada’s spy agency. The director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, who spent seven years at the helm, is leaving the public service altogether.
Biden tells Democratic governors he needs more sleep and plans to stop scheduling events after 8 p.m.
U.S. President Joe Biden told Democratic governors during a meeting at the White House on Wednesday that part of his plan going forward is to stop scheduling events after 8 p.m. so that he can get more sleep, according to three sources briefed on his comments.