Sam's story: Canadian delegation retraces the steps of N.S. Mi'kmaq war hero

First at Five: Indigenous Veterans Day First at Five tells the story of Sam Glode – an Indigenous soldier from the Maritimes who served during the First World War.

Thursday was an emotional and powerful day for Jeff Purdy who fulfilled a lifetime dream of walking in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, Sam Glode, a Mi’kmaq soldier from Nova Scotia.

“It’s hard to describe it in words. The feeling of being here, being able to walk where Sam walked. It’s very powerful,” said Purdy.

Purdy is part of a Canadian delegation in Ypres, Belgium, who are honouring Canadian Indigenous veterans from the First World War.

With the help of a local historian who did meticulous research on Purdy’s ancestor, the group were able to retrace the steps of Glode through Flanders Fields.

“He stood up for who he was. A strong, honourable man that loved his family. He knew who he was as a Mi’kmaq man. Being Mi’kmaq and coming here and being able to serve his country was a big, big thing,” said Purdy.

Glode was a lumberjack, trapper and a hunting and fishing guide from Milton, N.S., who served his country during the Great War.

He was also a war hero.

At the age of 35, Glode joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force because the security of regular pay and a good livelihood in the army was just too much to pass up.

By 1915, he was an infantry soldier, but eventually became a Royal Canadian Engineer first in Belgium and then later in France.

Glode’s company dug tunnels around Ypres and he was promoted from corporal to sergeant after he coordinated the digging out of two units of men from a collapsed tunnel under no man’s land at Messines Ridge.

He would eventually guide around 20 men to escape from the Germans under nightfall.

Glode would later receive the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his heroic efforts.

Belgian historian Erwin Ureel led the tour through graveyards, battlefields and massive craters left behind from bombs – all areas where Glode served.

Ureel pored over war diaries for the past year to make sure the group of around 20 Canadians could walk where Glode walked and hopefully get some idea of what he experienced during his service in the Belgian countryside.

Glode died before Purdy was born, but the incredible tales of his time on the Western Front were passed down to him when he was a child.

“His war stories, his hunting and fishing stories. Walking in his footsteps in Nova Scotia, back home where he hunted and fished, guided and all of that, was still a big part of my life, but to be able to come here was always part of my bucket list of wanting to come here and trace my family’s history and to be able to honour Sam,” said Purdy.

Through Ureel’s research and tour through fields, farms and cemeteries, Purdy was able to find out a lot that he didn’t already know about his great-grandfather.

“General stories overall, yes, but down to a lot of the little details and stuff, I didn’t know. So that was a huge takeaway for me of being able to tell Sam’s legacy and go back and be able to tell my family,” said Purdy.

It was also an emotional day for other members of the delegation.

“This experience today has been an incredible journey. It’s been an eye-opener for me,” said Regional Chief Andrea Paul. “You do the honouring and you think about it when we do our service, but when you are actually in the space and you’re hearing the stories and the history and the way these troops came together and all of it by foot and carrying everything. It’s really given me an even greater appreciation of our ancestors that came and fought and protected.”

The day began at the Hill 62 Memorial, which honours the Canadian participation in the defence of Ypres.

Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre elder Debbie Eisan held a smudging ceremony for the delegation.

From there, it was off to nearby Ridgewood Military Cemetery where the delegation heard stories of other Canadian Armed Forces Indigenous soldiers who served and died in the area.

Perhaps the most eye-opening experience of the tour was seeing the Spanbroekmolen Krater, a massive bomb crater created by 9,000 pounds of explosives during the Battle of Messines that is now a pond in the Flemish countryside.

The last stop of the day took place at dusk at a farm on the Messines Ridge, the location where Ureel was confident the tunnel collapsed.

“This was the main story that my family kept talking about when I was growing up,” said Purdy.

The delegation then presented gifts to Purdy and Ureel before calling it a day.

Purdy said during the tour he texted his mother back in Milton, N.S., who knew her grandfather well.

“She was very excited, very thankful that I got to come over here, to learn where Sam was,” said Purdy.

A councillor with Wasoqopa’q, Acadia First Nation, Purdy was asked if he believes Canada’s Indigenous veterans have been recognized enough for their sacrifices.

“They’re starting to now,” said Purdy. “That was part of being franchised. If you come over here and served in a war you weren’t recognized as being Mi’kmaq anymore, or Indigenous across Canada.”

“I’m going to say no,” said Chief Paul. “I don’t think they get the recognition that they deserve because if they did, I think that more of our people would really have a better understanding of what they did to protect our country. I think more needs to be done.”

More information on Sam Glode can be found here.

Click here for more photos from around Ypres.

This article was produced in partnership with Visit Flanders.