President Gord Rittwage (left) joins members of Captain Matt Dawe’s family.

PHOTO: CAPT. MATTHEW J. DAWE MEMORIAL BRANCH

It is a question being asked at Legion branches across Canada—what is a good way to reach out to Afghan veterans, to connect with them and show them the Legion is there to be of service? 

In Kingston, Ont., at what was known as Amherstview Branch, President Gord Rittwage came up with a plan—to rename the branch.

It wasn’t exactly a new plan—Legion branches have long been named after soldiers—but Rittwage would be at the absolute leading edge in another aspect: his plan was to rename the branch after an Afghan veteran. Specifically, he wanted to rename the branch in honour of a soldier from Kingston who died in Afghanistan—Captain Matt Dawe.

Dawe was killed on July 4, 2007, when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device. Five other Canadians died in the same blast. Dawe was 27 at the time of his death. He left behind a wife, Tara, and a son.

Late in 2013, Rittwage’s plan became a reality, and Amherstview Branch was officially renamed the Capt. Matthew J. Dawe Memorial Branch.

“You try to change something around here, it’s incredibly hard,” said Rittwage. “We did a lot of work laying out the game plan, telling everybody the reasons why we wanted to change the name, and we had the entire executive convinced within two weeks.”

Rittwage then spent the next few weeks around the branch in a grassroots effort to convince the members that changing the name was a good idea.

In the end, it took a few months, but it all worked out. From start to finish, the process took about six months. The name was officially changed on Nov. 1, 2013.

“The reaction’s been fabulous,” said Rittwage. “Our membership is increasing—we’ve had 47 new members, mostly armed forces people, since Nov. 1—and we have all sorts of new contacts with the [Canadian] Armed Forces.”