A wealthy member of one of Canada's most prominent families has been quietly donating more than $500,000 (U.S.) of his own money to the loved ones of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Now, Les Shaw wants someone to pick up where he left off.
In May, after U.S. President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq, the 76-year-old chairman of Toronto-based oil services company Shawcor Ltd. decided to show his gratitude to the families of those in both the U.S. and Canada who died protecting democracy overseas.
"We in North America and other parts of the world, we take freedom for granted," Shaw, who now lives in Barbados, said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.
"Yet here's these young fellows and their families who are giving the ultimate sacrifice to sustain the freedom we enjoy."
Once he got permission and the contact information for nearly 250 families from U.S. military officials, Shaw sent each one a personal cheque for $2,000 (U.S.) along with a brief, eloquent expression of thanks.
Through Canadian Forces authorities, he also made a similar offer of $2,500 (Cdn) to the families of the six soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
"It is too easy for many of us in North America to take our wonderful freedoms for granted; obviously, your loved one did not," Shaw's letter reads.
"Please accept this small token as a gesture of heartfelt thanks from an appreciative Canadian. Spend it however you think your fallen hero would want."
The letters prompted more than 100 heart-wrenching replies, many stuffed with family photos and other tokens of remembrance from grieving parents, widows and widowers whose anguish at times almost leaps from the page.
"They jerk you around pretty good," Shaw said of the letters, his voice softening. "They get to you."
Shaw never planned to publicize his mission of mercy. But when the American death toll in Iraq continued to climb past his established cut-off date of July 31, he decided to go public in the hope a like-minded successor would emerge.
"I think they'd find it gratifying, and as time goes by, very worthwhile," said Shaw, whose 22-year-old nephew is in Baghdad with U.S. forces.
"I was proud to do it, and I trust that it will give (families) some help in this time of need, when they've lost their loved ones."
As of Friday, the death toll among U.S. forces in Iraq totalled 461, 211 of which have occurred since July 31.
Col. Rick Boyd, the U.S. defence and air attaché to Canada at the American embassy in Ottawa, helped to ensure Shaw's project didn't run afoul of the U.S. Department of Defence's ethics regulations.
"When he made this offer, it was not long after the announced end of major combat operations, and we had no idea there'd be a continuing series of casualties in Iraq," Boyd said.
"I thought, what a generous gesture, to make a no-strings offer like that just because he feels a Canadian should do something for American service people."
While making it clear the U.S. is not soliciting any help, Boyd said American military authorities would happily permit anyone of like mind and means to carry on with the project.
The donations were never meant as a political statement, Boyd added.
"There was never any hint of any agenda or any sense that anyone needs to atone for any sovereign decision that Canada made to stay out of the actual combat in Iraq."
In exchange for the names and addresses, Shaw - whose younger brother J.R. is chairman of Calgary-based cable titan Shaw Communications Ltd. - agreed to protect the families' privacy by blacking out surnames, addresses and other personal details from the letters provided to CP.
The deletions diminish none of the sentiment.
"Jason wasn't only my baby; he was one of my best friends," reads one letter in which a mother pledges to donate half of Shaw's gift to a local children's hospital "in the hope that it will prevent some other parent from knowing the terrible heartache of losing a child."
The other half, she wrote, would go to the church where her son is buried.
"Please know that without the prayers and support of loving people like you we would never have made it this far," it continues.
"I take it day by day and I don't know if I will ever be happy again."
One of Shaw's cheques reached a single mother of three whose oldest son, an Airborne Ranger, died in Iraq. A former high-school dropout who spent several years working in an auto plant before returning to school to get a medical degree, she now takes care of Detroit's inner-city poor and knows a thing or two about hardship.
"My children lived through all those tough years with me; they understand sacrificing for what you believe in," she writes.
"I would give my life if I thought it would bring my son home, but it won't. So I will carry on in his footsteps and continue to give my best in the work that I do."
Many other letters express astonishment not only at Shaw's generosity, but his nationality as well.
"I was in awe to know that someone across international borders has acknowledged my loss and has shown appreciation for a young soldier, not known by you, but whose life and actions were recognized as noble and honorable," writes a woman named Leslie, who lost her only son to the war.
"I cannot say enough of how your kindness has been appreciated and will absolutely never be forgotten."
Shaw himself insisted that he wasn't trying to compensate for Canada's refusal to participate in the war in Iraq.
"Ottawa and our people (there) have their right to express their opinions, and I think I have the right to express mine; this is my expression," he said.
"We've got a 4,000-mile border with the Americans; we live with them, we vacation with them, we work with them, they're our biggest trading partner. Once you get past that, you come back to what freedom's worth."
The gesture has left embassy staff in Ottawa buzzing about this mysterious benefactor whom no one, not even Boyd, has ever met in person.
"I've not met him, but I'd love to do so someday," he said.
Word of the project seemed to come as a total surprise to the U.S. Army's public relations staff, including spokesperson Lt.-Col. Stan Heath of U.S. Army Human Resources Command in Alexandria, Va.
"As a fellow soldier, gosh, I am grateful for people like him — especially Canadians that have that kind of gratitude to not only U.S. soldiers, but obviously his own comrades, his own soldiers," Heath said.
"As a soldier in the army, it warms my heart to know there is a gentleman like him who would do that. It'd be neat to shake that man's hand someday.
Now, Les Shaw wants someone to pick up where he left off.
In May, after U.S. President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq, the 76-year-old chairman of Toronto-based oil services company Shawcor Ltd. decided to show his gratitude to the families of those in both the U.S. and Canada who died protecting democracy overseas.
"We in North America and other parts of the world, we take freedom for granted," Shaw, who now lives in Barbados, said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.
"Yet here's these young fellows and their families who are giving the ultimate sacrifice to sustain the freedom we enjoy."
Once he got permission and the contact information for nearly 250 families from U.S. military officials, Shaw sent each one a personal cheque for $2,000 (U.S.) along with a brief, eloquent expression of thanks.
Through Canadian Forces authorities, he also made a similar offer of $2,500 (Cdn) to the families of the six soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
"It is too easy for many of us in North America to take our wonderful freedoms for granted; obviously, your loved one did not," Shaw's letter reads.
"Please accept this small token as a gesture of heartfelt thanks from an appreciative Canadian. Spend it however you think your fallen hero would want."
The letters prompted more than 100 heart-wrenching replies, many stuffed with family photos and other tokens of remembrance from grieving parents, widows and widowers whose anguish at times almost leaps from the page.
"They jerk you around pretty good," Shaw said of the letters, his voice softening. "They get to you."
Shaw never planned to publicize his mission of mercy. But when the American death toll in Iraq continued to climb past his established cut-off date of July 31, he decided to go public in the hope a like-minded successor would emerge.
"I think they'd find it gratifying, and as time goes by, very worthwhile," said Shaw, whose 22-year-old nephew is in Baghdad with U.S. forces.
"I was proud to do it, and I trust that it will give (families) some help in this time of need, when they've lost their loved ones."
As of Friday, the death toll among U.S. forces in Iraq totalled 461, 211 of which have occurred since July 31.
Col. Rick Boyd, the U.S. defence and air attaché to Canada at the American embassy in Ottawa, helped to ensure Shaw's project didn't run afoul of the U.S. Department of Defence's ethics regulations.
"When he made this offer, it was not long after the announced end of major combat operations, and we had no idea there'd be a continuing series of casualties in Iraq," Boyd said.
"I thought, what a generous gesture, to make a no-strings offer like that just because he feels a Canadian should do something for American service people."
While making it clear the U.S. is not soliciting any help, Boyd said American military authorities would happily permit anyone of like mind and means to carry on with the project.
The donations were never meant as a political statement, Boyd added.
"There was never any hint of any agenda or any sense that anyone needs to atone for any sovereign decision that Canada made to stay out of the actual combat in Iraq."
In exchange for the names and addresses, Shaw - whose younger brother J.R. is chairman of Calgary-based cable titan Shaw Communications Ltd. - agreed to protect the families' privacy by blacking out surnames, addresses and other personal details from the letters provided to CP.
The deletions diminish none of the sentiment.
"Jason wasn't only my baby; he was one of my best friends," reads one letter in which a mother pledges to donate half of Shaw's gift to a local children's hospital "in the hope that it will prevent some other parent from knowing the terrible heartache of losing a child."
The other half, she wrote, would go to the church where her son is buried.
"Please know that without the prayers and support of loving people like you we would never have made it this far," it continues.
"I take it day by day and I don't know if I will ever be happy again."
One of Shaw's cheques reached a single mother of three whose oldest son, an Airborne Ranger, died in Iraq. A former high-school dropout who spent several years working in an auto plant before returning to school to get a medical degree, she now takes care of Detroit's inner-city poor and knows a thing or two about hardship.
"My children lived through all those tough years with me; they understand sacrificing for what you believe in," she writes.
"I would give my life if I thought it would bring my son home, but it won't. So I will carry on in his footsteps and continue to give my best in the work that I do."
Many other letters express astonishment not only at Shaw's generosity, but his nationality as well.
"I was in awe to know that someone across international borders has acknowledged my loss and has shown appreciation for a young soldier, not known by you, but whose life and actions were recognized as noble and honorable," writes a woman named Leslie, who lost her only son to the war.
"I cannot say enough of how your kindness has been appreciated and will absolutely never be forgotten."
Shaw himself insisted that he wasn't trying to compensate for Canada's refusal to participate in the war in Iraq.
"Ottawa and our people (there) have their right to express their opinions, and I think I have the right to express mine; this is my expression," he said.
"We've got a 4,000-mile border with the Americans; we live with them, we vacation with them, we work with them, they're our biggest trading partner. Once you get past that, you come back to what freedom's worth."
The gesture has left embassy staff in Ottawa buzzing about this mysterious benefactor whom no one, not even Boyd, has ever met in person.
"I've not met him, but I'd love to do so someday," he said.
Word of the project seemed to come as a total surprise to the U.S. Army's public relations staff, including spokesperson Lt.-Col. Stan Heath of U.S. Army Human Resources Command in Alexandria, Va.
"As a fellow soldier, gosh, I am grateful for people like him — especially Canadians that have that kind of gratitude to not only U.S. soldiers, but obviously his own comrades, his own soldiers," Heath said.
"As a soldier in the army, it warms my heart to know there is a gentleman like him who would do that. It'd be neat to shake that man's hand someday.