Same as it ever was
I have an aunt who is turning 103 this summer. I remember, as a kid, she and my mother talking about their older brother who returned from WWII as a changed man. He never spoke to his sisters again after his return from Europe, and they were unable to fathom why. I know it hurt them both deeply.
May 13, 2024
I decided to see if I could find some answers for her, seeing as 104 may not be an option. I must admit I had no idea where this journey would take me and what a journey it proved to be.
I applied for their military records from the federal government, and after a somewhat glacial process, I was apprised of them this spring. I had 3 uncles. All deceased.
Frank was unable to serve due to a missing trigger finger as a result of a farm accident years before.
Lawrence received basic training in Red Deer, Alberta then transferred to Hamilton to receive training as a blacksmith. Completing that he shipped over to England on the queen mary. While in London he acquired a piece of German bomb shrapnel in his knee and, after convalescence, spent the rest of the war as an orderly,before being honorably discharged in 1945.
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