On a clear spring day last April, hundreds of Canadians gathered in Vimy, France, at the spot many say marks the birthplace of Canadian nationalism.

People had come from around the world to remember the Canadian soldiers who fought and sacrificed their lives 90 years earlier to bring victory at Vimy Ridge, the site of one of the pivotal battles of the First World War.

Those in attendance recalled how following defeat after defeat by the Allied powers, the Canadians had done what their European partners were unable to do for nearly two years -- beat back the Germans to take the strategic ridge.

The stunning victory helped change and shape the Canadian psyche. No longer did Canada think of itself as a young and unimportant country. The soldiers fought hard and won, turning Canada into a nation that could stand confidently next to those of Europe.

The re-commemoration ceremony last spring for the Vimy Memorial was as much about history and remembrance as it was about how modern Canada was built.

The point was not lost on the Queen as she spoke about what the Canadian soldiers had accomplished.

"Those who seek the foundations of Canada's distinction," she said, "would do well to begin here, at Vimy."

Soldiers from more recent wars, their families, students, the French and other Europeans, and ordinary Canadians solemnly listened as Prime Minister Stephen Harper noted that Vimy is part of the nation's "creation story."

There was, however, an absence in the crowd. Not a single Canadian who helped shape the important chapter of Canada's national story was present.

All of them have died, save one. The last remaining Canadian veteran of the First World War is now 107. When he passes away, so, too, will the last human link to events that helped spawn a new Canada.

That's something that concerns Jeremy Diamond, the Director of Programs at the Dominion Institute, an organization dedicated to preserving Canada's heritage. He wants to make sure that Canadians don't forget what happened at Vimy or the sacrifices made by soldiers during any of the wars in which Canada has fought.

That's why the re-commemoration ceremony was so important, according to Diamond.

With just 220,000 Canadian Second World War vets remaining, Diamond says that memorials like that at Vimy and other cenotaphs in Canadian communities will now play an increasingly important role.

"Passing on that torch of remembrance is key right now," Diamond says.

"Many people didn't realize how touching the Vimy ceremony would be. These memorials humanize the experience."

Jonathan Vance, a history professor at the University of Western Ontario, says memorials and cenotaphs were devised so that they would live on long after the soldiers who fought in battle were gone.

"Memorials were always intended to be living memory devices," he says.

"They were meant to be commemorative, but they were also intended to pass on history from one generation to the next. They're an insurance policy against amnesia."

A call for renewed commitments

Diamond says that Canadians need to keep in mind that Second World War vets are passing away at a rate of 500 soldiers every week. He believes that the country needs to come together to make sure that when the last soldier is gone, society does not forget their sacrifice.

Diamond wants Canadian communities to establish veteran appreciation days centred on community memorial sites for soldiers.

"Many veterans may not make it to the next Rememberance Day, so the communities can hold events at another time, where people gather at the cenotaph," he said.

"We would commemorate sacrifice and have a moment with veterans who came back and remember comrades who didn't -- with their families and other members of the public."

Diamond says memorials are important because Canadians appear to be forgetting the nation's history -- something he finds frustrating.

A 2007 poll by the Dominion Institute found that only 41 per cent of 1,000 Canadians surveyed could identify Vimy Ridge as Canada's most well known victory of  the First World War. In Quebec, that number was even lower.

It should be noted, however, that Quebecers, unlike the rest of Canada, ultimately did not want Canada to enter the war. So, it should come as no surprise that Vimy is not as well remembered in some parts of the country as others.

Just as controversies surrounding wars arise contemporaneously, so, too, do debates about what events are remembered, their significance, or how they're remembered.

Officials at the Canadian War Museum learned first hand this past year that controversies about wars and battles -- and the way they're commemorated -- live on long after they're fought.

Veterans were outraged about what was written on a plaque that the museum planned on using in its display of the Second World War allied bombings of German cities. They feared the words were too critical of their actions and made them appear like war criminals.

The situation was ultimately settled with a consensus between the museum and veterans about what would be said on the plaque, but not before it became a political volleyball that even involved a Senate subcommittee.

When it comes to memorials, Vance says there was a time not too long ago when they were seen as less important than they are today. In the aftermath of the American war in Vietnam many Canadians became weary about anything that appeared to be a war-related homage.

Vance says that has now changed and memorials like that at Vimy are gaining a new interest.

"There is a recognition that they need to be safeguarded and valued," he says.

Vance adds that commemorations at memorials and cenotaphs, especially those involving veterans, make events that kids and people would read about in text books more real.

"Wars are such abstract things, especially for kids. It's hard for them to find a personal connection," he says.

Preserving history after living examples are gone

Both Vance and Diamond say that as veterans from the Second World War and other conflicts pass on, it will become more and more imperative for Canadians to preserve their history. Both say they would like to see cenotaphs and memorials gain greater importance for the public and politicians.

Now that only one Canadian veteran remains alive from World War I, Diamond says he hopes that Canadians will establish a Vimy memorial hear in Canada, in addition to the one in France.

He says not everyone can afford to go to France, and events here would attract more media attention. That way history is passed on to more Canadians than just those who are able to go to the actual locations.

As older soldiers pass away, memorials will now become one of the fundamental links future generations have to events that shaped our nation, Diamond says.

As the prime minister pointed out at the re-dedication ceremony at Vimy, "it is sometimes said that the dead speak to the living."

But ultimately, Diamond and Vance agree that once the soldiers who fought in battles such as Vimy pass on, Canadians lose an important link.

"There's no substitute for having that handshake of these living examples of Canadian history," Diamond says.