War medals lost in Fort McMurray wildfire will be missed this Remembrance Day

Harvey Sykes lost it all when May's wildfire roared through his home in Fort McMurray.

The fire even incinerated his father's Second World War medals.

Sykes used to wear them every Remembrance Day.

"I felt I had to do it out of respect," he said. "I have great respect for those who went to war. It means a lot to me."

His father, Thomas Sykes, left Fort McMurray in 1942 to go Calgary for training, then was deployed to France, Belgium and Germany.

One of an unknown number of Indigenous people who fought in the war, he went from the trap line to the battlefield, where he worked as radio operator and tank gunner.

"The war was a terrible experience and he didn't like talking about it," Sykes said of his father.

Despite that silence, through the years those medals testified to his father's sacrifice and courage.

Lost medals, uniforms, war memorabilia

The Fort McMurray Royal Canadian Legion said it knows of at least five veterans who lost uniforms and medals in the flames.

"We did get approached by a couple of fellows looking at how they would get their medals replaced," said legion president Patrick Duggan.

Some of those veterans were firefighters, he said, and were too busy saving other houses to run home and grab their symbols of valour.

"At the end of the day, it is a material thing," said Duggan, who served in Yugoslavia in 1993 with United Nations forces.

There's a process for veterans and their families to have lost medals reissued, he said.

But Sykes isn't sure he wants to go through that. Instead, this Remembrance Day, he'll attend the annual ceremony wearing a beaded vest and his wool Métis sash.

It still pays tribute, he said, to his dad who was proud of his service and Métis heritage.