This Remembrance Day, Virginia Hicks lays a wreath at the National War Memorial in Ottawa for every Canadian mother who has lost a child in military service. The Royal Canadian Legion, a large group that supports veterans, has chosen her as Canada’s 2026 National Silver Cross Mother.

The Silver Cross is a medal that Canada has given since 1919 to the mothers and widows of members of the military who die in service. Every year, the Legion chooses one mother to speak for all of these families for a year. “I’m very honoured to be the Silver Cross Mother,” said Hicks, who lives in Frankford, a small community in eastern Ontario. “Surprised, very honoured.”

Hicks knows military life well. She served for almost 30 years in the Royal Canadian Air Force, where she worked in supply. Her father was a military firefighter, and her husband, Brian, also spent 30 years in the military.

Hicks’s daughter, Mariebeth Short, was born in Comox, B.C. She first hoped to become a navigator in the navy, but her math marks were not high enough, so recruiters offered her a job as a combat engineer instead. Combat engineers build bridges and roads and clear the way for other soldiers. Hicks said her daughter joined to meet new people and have new adventures. At first, her family was a little unsure about her choice, but they supported her.

Mariebeth was only about 150 centimetres (4 feet 11 inches) tall, and the other soldiers gave her the nickname Shorty. But she carried heavy steel bridge pins, each over 16 kilograms (35 pounds), two at a time. “She had a lot of respect from all the people she worked with,” her mother said.

On September 23, 2002, Mariebeth was taking part in a training exercise at the military base in Petawawa, Ontario, northwest of Ottawa. The armoured vehicle she was in rolled over, and she was killed. She was 22. Later, an investigation found a problem in one of the vehicle’s wheel parts that went back to when the vehicle was built. Hicks still keeps her daughter’s beret, the soft military hat she wore.

Hicks received the Silver Cross in 2009, seven years after Mariebeth died. Until then, she did not know the medal was also given for deaths in training. Now she wants Canadians to understand that a soldier who dies in training matters just as much as one who dies on a mission overseas.

On Remembrance Day, she thinks about Mariebeth and about all the other parents. “We all share the same sorrow, we all share the same bravery,” she said. She also has one wish for the future: “You just kind of wish… that there’s never going to be another Silver Cross Mother.”

Sources: CTV News, The Canadian Press, Royal Canadian Legion

This Remembrance Day, Virginia Hicks lays a wreath at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on behalf of every Canadian mother who has lost a child in military service. The Royal Canadian Legion, Canada’s largest veterans’ organization, has named her the 2026 National Silver Cross Mother, a role she will hold until the end of October 2027.

The Silver Cross, officially called the Memorial Cross, has been given since 1919 to the mothers and widows of military members who die in service. Each year, after nominations from across the country, a Legion committee chooses one mother to represent all of these families. “Her presence on behalf of all mothers is so incredibly meaningful,” said Sharon McKeown, the Legion’s national president. Hicks, who lives in Frankford, a small community in eastern Ontario, described her reaction simply: “Surprised, very honoured.”

Military service runs deep in her family. Hicks spent nearly three decades in the Royal Canadian Air Force, working in logistics and supply. Her father was a military firefighter, her grandfather was an airman, and her husband, Brian, served for 30 years as a construction engineer.

Hicks’s daughter, Mariebeth Short, was born in Comox, B.C. She originally wanted to be a navy navigator, but when her math marks fell short, recruiters steered her toward combat engineering, the branch that builds bridges and clears the way for other troops. Her mother believes the chance to meet new people and have adventures was a big reason she signed up, and although the family had doubts at first, they backed her.

Standing just 150 centimetres (4 feet 11 inches) tall, Mariebeth, a sapper (the army’s word for a combat engineer), soon earned the nickname Shorty. Hicks insists it had nothing to do with her ability: Mariebeth hauled steel bridge pins weighing more than 16 kilograms (35 pounds), two at a time. “She had a lot of respect from all the people she worked with,” her mother said. Mariebeth was looking forward to her first overseas deployment, to Bosnia or Afghanistan.

She never got there. On September 23, 2002, during a training exercise at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa, northwest of Ottawa, the light armoured vehicle she was riding in rolled over. She was 22. A military investigation later found a defect in the vehicle’s wheel assembly that dated back to when it was built. She was buried in her uniform after a full military funeral, and her mother still keeps her beret.

Hicks received her Silver Cross in 2009, seven years after Mariebeth’s death; until then, she had not known that it also covered deaths in training. That experience shapes her message. Many people, she said, see a death on an overseas mission as more important than one in training, and that is wrong. In her view, training is exactly what keeps soldiers safe once they are sent to a war zone.

Her words carry special weight this year, after a grass fire during training at CFB Wainwright in Alberta killed four soldiers in October. To their families, she offers a gentle promise: “It will get easier. I can promise them that, but it’ll never go away.”

Her thoughts on Remembrance Day are with Mariebeth and with every parent who has lost a child. “We all share the same sorrow, we all share the same bravery,” she said. Her greatest wish is a simple one: “You just kind of wish… that there’s never going to be another Silver Cross Mother.”

Sources: CTV News, The Canadian Press, Royal Canadian Legion