Prior to the creation of his column, Grinsted had a keen interest in the war effort. For instance, he began keeping a list of names of students from Mission Secondary School who had gone to war. The purpose of this list was to create a roll of honour to recognize current and former students who enlisted for military service. In the end, Grinsted was able to collect 212 names of students who joined the Canadian and American forces. Additionally, The Fraser Valley Record noted that Grinsted created an album of remembrance that paid respect to, āeleven names of those who have paid the supreme sacrifice, also nine wounded, one missing and two that [were] prisoners of warā. This album was eventually made into a book. A link to this album can be found below.
Link to In Memorium Album: https://rb.gy/f6tocs
It can be presumed that there were a few key reasons as to why Grinsted may have wanted to create this column. Firstly, after a close analysis of the local newspaper, there was not a consistent amount of information regarding Mission residents who were involved in war outside of āPopāsā column. Secondly, all three of Grinstedās children were fighting in the war. Both his sons Cecil and Ronald as well as his daughter Doris were all serving overseas. Lastly, Grinsted had several other personal connections to the war because not only was his family involved but he also personally knew the students who were going to risk their lives for their country. Due to his high involvement in the school, these students off at war were essentially seen as his other āchildrenā.
