100 Years of the Royal Canadian Legion: Remembering the Dead, Serving the Living

When Canadian soldiers returned home from the First World War, the cheering eventually stopped. But for thousands of veterans, the struggle to rebuild their lives was only beginning.

In 2026, the Royal Canadian Legion celebrates its 100th anniversary. But how did a patchwork of veterans’ associations become one of Canada's most enduring institutions?

In this episode of the Rum Ration Podcast, hosts Colin and Rejoy explore the Legion’s remarkable century of service, from its founding in 1926 to its continuing advocacy for veterans and their families.

Along the way, they uncover the fascinating connection between Montreal’s Royal Montreal Regiment, its legendary officer C.B. Price, and the Legion’s national leadership.

Beyond poppies, parades, and Remembrance Day lies a much bigger story about comradeship, sacrifice, and a nation’s obligations to those who served.

Because remembrance means more than honouring the dead. It means caring for the living.

What drives a young American barber to cross the border, enlist in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and head overseas to fight a war his own country had not yet entered?

In this episode of the Rum Ration Podcast, Rejoy and Colin follow the extraordinary story of Romeo Houle, a French-Canadian barber from New Bedford, Massachusetts who volunteered in Montreal in August 1914 because he “longed for big adventures.”

Drawing heavily on Houle’s own 1916 New York Times account, we follow him from Valcartier and Salisbury Plain into the mud, rats, artillery, gas and brutal close-quarters fighting of the Western Front. Along the way, we examine the “charmed life” that seemed to keep him alive, the comrades he lost, and the strange humanity that sometimes emerged between enemies across No Man’s Land.

Houle went looking for adventure. He came home haunted by it, and he was determined to warn others what war truly meant.

Few fighter pilots have become legends quite like Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron. In this episode of The Rum Ration Podcast, Rejoy and Colin look beyond the red triplane, the eighty victories, and the mythology to explore the methodical hunter, combat leader, wounded veteran, and propaganda icon behind the legend.

They trace Richthofen’s journey from cavalry officer to Germany’s most famous ace, examine the tactics that made him so deadly, and revisit his final flight on 21 April 1918. Was Canadian pilot Roy Brown responsible for his death, or did the fatal shot come from Australian ground fire?

The story then comes home to Toronto, where remarkable pieces of Richthofen’s final aircraft, including his seat, survive at the Royal Canadian Military Institute.

Along the way, there is celebrity, controversy, respect between enemies, and, naturally, Snoopy. Because behind every legend is a human story, and this one remains endlessly fascinating.