Canadian soldier honoured 70 years after death

Seventy years after his death, Canadian Private Albert Laubenstein was honoured in a military ceremony today at the Bergen-op-Zoom Canadian War Cemetery in the Netherlands.

Private Laubenstein died in 1945 during the Allied advance. He was buried in a battlefield grave and his remains were not found until long after the war.

Last June, two men were scanning the banks of the Maas River with a metal detector when they stumbled upon the soldier's remains. They immediately contacted the police. Soon after, the remains were identified as those of Private Laubenstein.

"It's just overwhelming," his nephew, Glen Laubenstein, tells As it Happens co-host Carol Off. "This has just been a constantly evolving thing for me."

Glen Laubenstein attended the funeral in the Netherlands with his daughter -- CBC journalist Sarah Penton -- earlier today. He was honoured by how many people attended the event, including some WWII veterans. They were joined by the men who discovered his body.

Growing up, Glen Laubenstein's father told him about his uncle.

"Albert was tall, dark, handsome, muscular and a great athlete, so I'm sure Dad was a little jealous of him," he says.  

The family, however, knew nothing about his war service.

For the soldier's nephew, this is a chance for him to learn more about his family history.

"This is a whole new chapter of my life," he says. "These are all things I didn't know so it has been an absolute delight for me to learn."