Victoria man records 465 veterans' stories on cross-country road trip of remembrance

When Eric Brunt was growing up, his grandpa Cliff always knew how to make his grandson smile.

“It was watching old movies and [eating] ice cream sundaes when my parents were out of the house,” Eric smiles. “Because they didn’t want me to have sugar.”

But it wasn’t until Cliff died that Eric realized there was a major chapter in his grandpa’s life they’d never discussed.

“There was definitely a feeling of regret,” Eric recalls. “Gosh, this was such a missed opportunity.”

Suspecting that others knew little about the veterans in their family too, Eric began cold-calling local legions.

“I’d say, ‘Hey, are there any World War Two veterans?’” Eric smiles. “And I’d hear the bartender say, ‘Hey, are there any World War Two veterans back here?’”

Eric was surprised to find that his request to record a conversation with a veteran was accepted not once, but dozens of times.

“They don’t talk about the war,” Eric says. “Either because of painful memories or they don’t think their story was important.”

The then-24-year-old spent two-to-three hours listening to each veteran recount their experiences, before realizing time was running out to preserve so many other untold stories.

So Eric quit his job and drained his savings to self-fund a 13-month journey across the country to interview as many Second World War veterans as he could find.

“Most of the men and woman are so full of life,” Eric says. “If you just take the time to talk to them you can learn so much.”

You learn to live every day feeling gratitude, Eric says, for the past sacrifices that led to our present freedoms.

“Every single one of these veterans says war is hell,” Eric says of the 465 people he’s interviewed so far.

“And war should be avoided at any cost possible.”

Now — four years since his road-trip of remembrance began — Eric is driving across Canada again, inviting veterans to contact him through his Eric Brunt Media website. He’s also partnered with professional producers Melki Films in Montreal, and the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, to make all his interviews available to the public.

“I think my Grandpa would make some remark like, ‘I can’t believe I caused all this trouble!’” Eric laughs.

After making a joke, Eric say his grandpa Cliff would hopefully express his pride.

“I hope that even though his story doesn’t exist, I’ve done my part in making sure a lot of others' stories are preserved,” he says.