Sunday, April 21, 2013

By Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER – It was one of those aching moments of clarity, interview gold that every author and historian hopes to achieve, one that said so much about how the Korean War was perceived in its time and the wounds it left for the people who fought it.

It is a story that sticks with writer Ted Barris, but belongs to Bill Jackson, who fought with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.

He returned home to Brooks, Alberta to an empty train platform in October 1952 and when his proud father later introduced him at the local legion branch a voice from the back of the room told the young soldier to sit down.

“So you were in Korea? So what?”

The 516 who died in what the Liberal government of the day called a United Nations “police action” paled in comparison to the slaughter of the two preceding World Wars.

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On Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013, Ted Barris received an advance tour of the Cold War era Royal Canadian Navy submarine HMCS Ojibwa. He is a member of the Project Ojibwa Honorary Board which in 2012 assisted in the salvage and transport of the sub from Halifax to Port Burwell, Ontario, on Lake Erie.

During an awards ceremony at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum on Oct. 14, 2012, Sen. Joseph Day presented Ted Barris with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. The announcement issued with the award said, in part, “the medal is a visible and tangible way to recognize outstanding Canadians … who have built and continue to build this caring society and country through their service and achievements.”

Barris was nominated for the award by the Air Force Association of Canada. (more…)

On July 27, 2011, the Minister of Veterans Affairs for Canada awarded 19 citizens his annual commendation. Traditionally, the award is “presented to those veterans … who, in an exemplary way, have contributed either to the care and well-being of veterans or to the remembrance of the sacrifices and achievements of Canadians in armed conflict.”

Most of the 2011 recipients are veterans. Ted Barris, a civilian, also received the commendation.

His citation read, in part: “Ted Barris has made such exemplary contributions by generously giving of himself and so both benefiting veterans and making manifest the principle that Canada’s obligation to all who have served in the cause of Peace and Freedom, must not be forgotten.”

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On July 1 – Canada Day 2010 – residents of Uxbridge Township assembled at a local park to celebrate the nation’s 143rd birthday. Hundreds settled in for food, refreshments, amusements and, of course, the evening’s annual fireworks display. Wedged into the evening’s slate of activities was the annual announcement by the Uxbridge Times-Journal newspaper of the “Citizen of the Year.” T-J reporter Don Campbell invited several dignitaries to the stage – including MP Bev Oda, MPP John O’Toole, Mayor Bob Shepherd – and finally the recipient … Ted Barris.

In May 2010, Ted Barris led a tour of veterans and their families to Holland for the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the country by Allied soldiers. Among those on the tour were three Canadian vets who had participated in the liberation. Images of Don Kerr, Ron Charland and Barclay Craig accompany their comments from the revisit to the Netherlands.