Canadian war veterans paved our way
During the war years, my father was a reservist who trained each weekend at Camp Dundurn. During the week, he attended classes at the University of Saskatchewan. Meanwhile, my mother was teaching school in northern Ontario and later at La Ronge. Every day she would knit a sock or a mitten for the war effort. She was a lifelong knitter.
My parents were typical of people during the war years — the men enlisted, and the women kept the home fires burning and contributed to the war effort.
A friend who visited the graves in Holland and France was shocked to discover that they were a bunch of “farm kids,” young men who were teenagers and in their 20s.
Canada had a civilian army and the recruits came from the farms, shop floors and other places of work and learning across the country. They also came from isolated native communities and reserves across the country. Together they became the generation that built the modern country we have today.
Back when I was a vice-chief of the FSIN, I was given the honour to work with the veterans and, along with Henry Langin from the Cote reserve, we assisted the veterans to organize into a provincewide organization.
Sadly most of the Second World War veterans have passed on. The two remaining First Nations Second World War vets in Saskatchewan are Philip Favel from Poundmaker and V. Pechawis from Mistawasis.
Also, this year we lost a number of veterans who served in Korea and peacetime. This roll call will include:
■ Tony Cote from the Cote First Nation, who served in Korea;
■ Albert Starblanket from Ahtakakoop, who also served in Korea;
■ Frank Merasty from the Flying Dust First Nation, who served in Korea;
■ Lloyd Bull from Little Pine, who served in peacetime;
■ Philip Ledoux from Mistawasis, who served in peacetime;
■ Roy Alexon, who served in peacetime;
■ Frank Tompkins, who signed up at the end of the Second World War and served in peacetime in Germany.
But while each year we lose the older veterans, every year new recruits are making the decision to serve their country as United Nations peacekeepers and in places like Afghanistan.
Whenever I attend a Pow Wow, the veterans are always a part of the grand entry. By the colour of their beret you can see where they served, be it Korea, Vietnam or the Second World War. Today there are more younger veterans who sport the light blue beret, which stands for UN peacekeeping.
It’s a source of pride for our people that we are still stepping up and volunteering for military service, and if we can keep the peace rather than fight in a war, we are making an equal contribution.
In Saskatchewan every town has a cenotaph that remembers the war dead. It’s an indication of the sacrifice that was made. A few years ago, I was listening to a news report and the reporter remarked that the town was so small they only had one name on the cenotaph. I think he thought he was being funny.
I thought, “What an insult — that one individual was loved and missed. He was a part of the community and every year his family and friends would lay a wreath on Remembrance Day in his memory.”
In the 20th century, Canada lost about 67,000 lives in the First World War and 47,000 in the Second World War. That is more than 100,000 men and women who are buried in Europe at battlefields in France, Belgium, Holland and Italy, as well as places like Hong Kong and other war graves.
Canada was much different in the first half of the 20th century; in 1914, on the eve of the First World War, we had a population of eight million and in 1939 our population was 11 million. Despite such a small population in this huge and varied land, we were still able to play a major role in both world wars.
Most of the individuals who volunteered or contributed to the war effort are gone now. Despite living through a Depression and dust bowl, followed by the trauma of a world war, their generation went on to create the modern nation that we benefit from today.