A salute to our fallen heroes
In Waters Deep by Eileen Mahoney In ocean wastes no poppies blow, No crosses stand in ordered row, There young hearts sleep… beneath the wave … The spirited, the good, the brave, But stars a constant vigil keep, For them who lie beneath the deep. 'Tis true you cannot kneel in prayer On certain spot and think. “He’s there. ”But you can to the ocean go… See white caps marching row on row; Know one for him will always ride… In and out… with every tide. And when your span of life is passed, He’ll meet you at the “Captain’s Mast. ”And they who mourn on distant shore For sailors who’ll come home no more, Can dry their tears and pray for these Who rest beneath the heaving seas… For stars that shine and winds that blow And whitecaps marching row on row. And they can never lonely be For when they lived… they chose the sea.
Submitted by Mark Lance,Petty Officer #2nd class (RET)
Don’t forget to remember
November 1, 1918 was a long time ago and so, too, was September 2, 1945. While The Great War (World War I) and the Second World War aren’t the only conflicts where Canada has played a role, they are the ones which have largely defined the day we know as Remembrance Day.
Contemporarily, we find fewer and fewer persons alive who have vivid memories of those conflicts and with each passing of a calendar year, we mark distance in time, as well as ability to empathize, with the scale of a commitment and loss which are near unfathomable. And therein lies a challenge to which we must rise.
Before either of those wars, philosopher, essayist, poet and novelist George Santayana formulated what has now been almost reduced to nothing more than a meme: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” However, we are well-advised to retrieve his words out of the social media mayhem and consider them more deliberately.
While it may be difficult to conjure sufficient personal context with which to inform remembrance, we should know that it is only through honouring the past, whether it be in memory or in celebration, that we can hope to ensure adequate urgency in committing to community and country, and working together for a better world.
That should be our stated goal, lest we forget.
by Glen Hartle
February 6, 1918 - Jan 30, 1991
He became an active member of the military on November 24, 1943 after completing training in Active Militia of Canada. He served in Canada, United Kingdom (Britain), Central Mediterranean Area, Italy, France, Germany and Holland. He stayed for approximately 1 year after the war to help with duties after the war had ended. He was discharged and went to hospital in Kingston, Ontario in 1946. He remained in hospital until 1947 recovering from Tuberculosis. In the same year he married Elizabeth Jean Dale Crawford. After he finished his out patient care in 1948 he worked in Kingston as a messenger until he moved to the farm in Litchfield Quebec in June 1950 where he lived until his death in 1991. His legacy lives on through his three children: James, Susan and Sharon.
Submitted by Garnet Stephens
Earl Reginald Everson was a bomber pilot in WWII flying a Lancaster over Germany from his base in England. He had just married my mother Catherine before he left from CFB Trenton in 1941. Thankfully he returned home safely. On Remembrance Day we gratefully thank all the veterans who helped bring peace to the world.
Submitted by daughter Kathleen Everson.
Private Paul Dagenais
Army Unit: 2nd
Depot Battalion, Eastern Ontario
Born August 5, 1896 Otter Lake, Quebec
Enlistment June 28, 1918 Ottawa, Ontario.
Ptv Paul Dagenais, the son of Mrs. Sofia Dagenais of Otter Lake, Quebec, was enlisted from Aug. 8, 1918 until June 23, 1919 and served with the 2nd Depot Battalion in WWI. Pte Paul Dagenais was a brave young soldier who for England (UK) and worked as a porter and to deal with the wounded and dead in the Theatre of War of WWI. He returned home in August of 1919 and developed gangrene shortly after in his legs, from war-related injuries. Both legs had to be amputated. He used a
wheelchair until he passed away in June 1961.
Pte Paul Dagenais was a WWI hero.
rtz.
58 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force
Pilot Officer Gordon James Strutt, second from the left, son of John Herbert and Mary Ann Strutt of Shawville, Quebec.
Enlisted September 14, 1939. Died August 6, 1942 at 25 years of age.
Honours and Awards: Distinguished Flying Medal
On August 6, 1942 Mark VII Whitley aircraft No Z9525 carrying Strutt and five other crew members, pictured right, took off from Wick airport at 12.15 p.m. for an anti-submarine patrol over the North Sea. There was no radio contact with the plane after it left and it did not return.
Strutt’s body, along with fellow crew members, was never found. He has no known grave and is commemorated with honour on the Runnymede memorial.
Submitted by great-great niece Liz Draper
1921-2000
Wilmer went overseas and was stationed in Normandy. I do not have an exact date, but from what we know he wasn’t there very long before they were ambushed. He suffered a severe head wound and was sent to a hospital in England where they repaired the damage to his skull with a steel plate. After well enough he was transported home. He raised a beautiful family with his wife Virginia. My favourite memory of this beautiful soul was when he’d say “come on over here and give me a big old bear hug.”
Submitted by great-niece Crystal Metcalfe
I have heard some differing stories about my Grandpa, some say he lied about his age, as he was only 13 when the war was announced, some say he joined a bit later. Either way, one thing for sure is that a group in Grandpa’s platoon ended up with the measles and he was not allowed overseas. He was sent by train to the west coast to defend Canada’s western shores. The other story I do know is that his best friend in the army was a lad named Perry. They never saw each other again, but he named his first born son, my dad, Perry. He raised a family of nine with his beautiful wife Margaret. His legacy will live on through a very large family tree. Grandpa was a little more stern, but oh how I loved him and cherish every memory I have.
Submitted by granddaughter Crystal Metcalfe
Daniel Stephens
William Thomas Daniel Stephens volunteered
for service in the Canadian Army at Ottawa in the fall
of 1942 at 18 years of age.
He was stationed at Ottawa from Nov. 30, 1942 to Dec. 4, 1942. He then went to Peterborough until Feb. 23, 1943. From there he went to Petawawa until July 18, 1943. On July 18, 1943 he boarded the “R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth” and crossed the north Atlantic to England where he stayed from July 29 to Oct. 12, 1943. He then went to Eastborne from Oct. 12 to Oct. 21. From there he went to Bournemouth until April 4, 1944.
He went to Fareham until June 1, 1944. He went from there to Southampton until June 5, 1944 making preparations for the D-Day invasions. His rank was Private William Thomas Daniel Stephens 19th Canadian Army Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery.
He was a gunner on a Sherman tank with a 105 mm gun.
Submitted by Garnet Stephens.