Inspired by a school project of his son’s several years ago, in which his then 11-year-old son interviewed a Second World War veteran who fought in Pachino, Sicily, in support of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, Steve Gregory took up the cause of Canada’s soldiers. “There was nothing written about this battle in Sicily,” says Gregory, president of Montreal-based IsaiX Technologies, Pharmahorizons, and Chyma Systems Inc. “It is an unknown story of Canadian courage and heroism.”

With the exception of stories written by Canadian author Farley Mowat, who himself was a soldier in Second World War with the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, there was scant documentation about the battle where Canadian soldiers pushed back German defenses in the summer months of 1943.

On a trip to Italy in 2006, Gregory and his son visited the graves of the soldiers who fought in this battle at the Canadian War Cemetery in Agira, Sicily. “That experience caused me to take up this up as a cause,” says Gregory. “Close to 500 men died in Sicily over the span of six weeks in 1943, and these men are forgotten souls.”

Gregory then launched the 2013 Canadian Citizen’s Memorial Campaign in Sicily, also known as Operation Husky 2013 (www.operationhusky2013.ca). The project is named for the soldiers who participated in the 1943 invasion of Sicily in which the 1st Canadian division fought between the English and the Americans. It was the first independent role in the Second World War for Canadian soldiers.

Gregory’s goal is to organize hundreds of Canadians to travel to Sicily in 2013 to participate in a daily march and ceremony, as a tribute to the memory of the more than 500 men who fought and died or were wounded in the battle. The march will follow the path taken by the 1st Canadian division.

“My mission is to involve Canadians,” says Gregory. “This will be a commemorative march to remember the men who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. These are fallen heroes. These are forgotten souls. Men died in this heroic battle, and Canadians don’t know about it.”

Gregory has also sponsored and co-founded the 3rd battery of the 2nd field regiment of the Royal Canadian Artillery. The unit acquired a 1939 gun tractor to pull the group’s cannon, which now serves as a source of pride for the regiment.

In addition, Gregory has become an activist to promote the rights of other veterans, particularly reservists, who have recently been abroad in locations such as Afghanistan.

“Increasingly, the Canadian Armed Forces must rely upon reservists to fulfill its missions,” explains Gregory. “Out of 1,000 soldiers that go on a mission, at least a few hundred are reservists. It might be a car dealer or hospital worker who leaves for six months, and when he or she comes back, there may not be a job for them any longer.”

In 2008, Gregory was named Montreal chapter president of the Canada Company, a charitable organization dedicated to supporting active members, reservists, cadets, and veterans. The organization boasts influential business people such as Paul Desmarais, Peter Munk, Galen Weston, and Jim Balsillie.

The organization has raised monies to create a scholarship fund for the children of soldiers lost in Afghanistan, among other accomplishments, and is lobbying for a national reservist policy that protects the employment of men and women in Canada’s reserves who make the sacrifice of serving abroad in missions.