When the family of Sgt. Raymond Daniel Buckberry approached Sean Smith, a veteran living in Campbell River, to find more information on their family member’s service record, he was happy to help.
As they did some digging, they found that Buckberry had enlisted in Oct. 1939 and served until the end of the war in 1945.
He served in every campaign that the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry served in, Smith said, including ‘42-‘43 in Italy and ‘44-‘45 in Germany and France.
Buckberry was awarded the standard set of WWII medals as well as the Italian Campaign medal, which is not common, according to Smith.
As fate would have it, Smith had picked up a set of the six medals from a second hand store in Campbell River the year prior.
“I bought them on the spot,” he recalled. “There is no way, as a veteran, I am going to let a teenager walk around with a couple of medals as jewelry.”
After trying and failing to track down the original owner, or family members of the original owner, Smith had been pondering what to do with the medals when Buckberry’s family came along.
It seemed like the perfect thing to do.
He had the medals mounted and framed in a shadow box and presented to Buckberry’s family, reconnecting them with their family history.
Smith will be presenting the medals to the family today.
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jocelyn.doll@campbellrivermirror.com
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