For years, a photograph sat inside the pocket of a donated jacket. Now, after turning up in an Ontario thrift store, thousands of kilometres from home, it’s helping tell the story of a fallen Alberta soldier who served in Afghanistan. The photograph is of Cpl. Cole Bartsch, a 23-year-old soldier from Whitecourt, Alta., who was killed on July 4, 2007. On the back of the photo is a handwritten message: “I am Corporal Cole D. Bartsch. I died July 4, 2007 by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. Remember me.” For Barrie, Ont., resident LeeAnn Blake, reading those words brought an overwhelming wave of emotion. Her husband, an eBay reseller, had picked up the jacket at the Value Village in Barrie’s north end. When he got home and started going through the pockets, he came across the photograph. The couple read the message on the back together and Blake says her heart just melted. She told CTV News she had a feeling the picture had somehow found its way to her family for a special reason. A Canadian soldier’s sacrifice in Afghanistan Bartsch was serving with the Canadian Armed Forces when he was killed southwest of Kandahar City in Afghanistan on July 4, 2007. He was one of six Canadian soldiers killed when their RG-31 Nyala armoured vehicle struck a roadside bomb. An Afghan interpreter travelling with them was also killed. It was a deadly day for Canadian troops during the mission. After finding the photograph, Blake wanted to know more about the young soldier staring back at her. She began researching Bartsch and learned about his journey through war. “Cole made a huge sacrifice for Canada,” Blake said to CTV News. Hundreds share an online post, connecting the dots Still wondering how his photograph could have ended up inside a jacket at a Barrie thrift store, Blake shared the discovery on social media. “If you are the owner of this picture please reach out and I can give it back to you,” part of the Facebook post read. It quickly took off with over 2,000 likes and hundreds of comments. Among the people who commented was Joleen, Bartsch’s sister. She told Blake the photograph hadn’t come from her or their family and that she had no idea how it ended up in Barrie. Blake and Bartsch’s sister haven’t chatted directly, and no one from the family has reached out to claim the photograph just yet. But for Blake, seeing his sister’s comment made the discovery feel even more real. A special place beside the people she loves Blake has lived in Barrie with her family since 2018. She and her husband have five children. Beside her bed, she keeps a memorial table for people she has loved and lost, like her mother, who died in 2003, and a cousin who died in 2004. After finding Bartsch’s photo, she decided he should have a place there too. She went looking for a frame and brought it home, placing Bartsch beside her own loved ones. “I feel like he wants to be remembered,” Blake said. And that is exactly what she plans to do. For Blake, this isn’t just about keeping an old photograph safe. It’s about making sure her children know the person in that photo had a name, a family and a story. She told CTV News that as her children grow up, they will remember Bartsch and understand the sacrifice he and other Canadian soldiers made. On special occasions, when Blake decorates her memorial table, Bartsch will be included too. “He’s more than a photo to us and we get to remember him through that photo,” she said. “He’s a part of our family now.” One mystery remains Blake says she still has plenty of questions. She doesn’t know who originally owned the photograph, who wrote the message on the back or how it travelled all the way to a jacket hanging inside a store. The post sparked hundreds of comments, with many people trying to piece together the story. “He was someone very special to someone,” Blake said. “It’s so unique, and I feel blessed that he is a part of our story now.”
