Sam Chikejian, who was born in Armenia, but lived in the Canadian city of Brantford during the years of WWI, was the youngest citizen of Brantford who fought and died in the war. The Brantford Expositor has dedicated an article to the young soldier.

According to the Brantford Expositor, Chikejian was determined to serve voluntarily and leave for the battlefield in Europe. “As far as I can remember, when he was going to school, he and a couple of his Scottish friends left for Toronto to join the Scottish brigade, but his mother went to Toronto and brought Sam back,” Sam’s cousin, 98-year old Andy Chichakian from Hamilton said.

However, no matter how much the boy’s mother, Lusik tried to keep the family’s youngest child away from the war, Sam had made his decision. He got enlisted and traveled overseas. It’s likely that he was born in 1899, but it’s more likely that he was born in 1903 or 1904. In any case, Sam Chikejian was in England in February 1918 and trained to leave for the front. Nearly seven months later, he died and was buried at the Ontario Cemetery in the French Sen-le-Markyon residential area.

Canadian historian Jeffrey Moyer has known the story of famous soldier Sam Chikejian for a long time. “He was the youngest citizen of Brantford who fought and died during WWI,” the historian mentioned.