Captain William Henry Vassie, my father’s mother’s brother, was a member of the 1st Medium Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery. He died on July 6, 1945 in Holland, after the defeat of the Germans, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound or the result of an accident. He had already been wounded in Italy. He was buried at GROESBEEK CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY in Holland. It’s important that we recognize that post-traumatic stress disorder is real, and that it sometimes takes the lives of first responders in the military, police and medical professions. His father, a colonel, also served in the artillery during the First World War in Europe, but returned safely.