When the history books say 10,000 people died in a certain battle there’s a certain amount of detachment.

But when Connor Klauck saw the rows and rows of headstones during a trip to visit European war sites it became personal.

“When you go to the cemeteries and see the headstones, it puts the numbers into perspective,” he said.

Klauck, a Port Colborne native and Grade 12 student at Ridley College in St. Catharines, was one of 16 students to receive the Vimy Foundation’s Beaverbrook Vimy Prize. The scholarship allowed the students, from across Canada, as well as two from Europe, to attend a two-week trip to visit historical sites in Europe.

The group went to the Imperial War Museums in the United Kingdom, attended a lecture by an Oxford University professor, and visited sites like the Menin Gate memorial at Ypres, Flander’s Fields and Vimy Ridge.

At one gravesite Klauck read an epitaph on a headstone that simply stated, “Please don’t cry, Mom.”

“It really made that person personal for me,” Klauck said.

The trip stretched from Aug. 7-21. While there, Klauck and the group took part in the ceremony honouring the 71st anniversary of the Dieppe Raids. Klauck said he had the chance to meet some veterans of the infamous raid that killed more than 900 Canadian soldiers.

“It was really emotional, even today they remember what happened and how it happened,” Klauck said.

Klauck’s passion for history was passed down from his father. The younger Klauck said it’s important to learn about the country’s history to understand how Canada developed.