Do as You are Told!

I tell them when I go to school that it teaches you first how to get along with your friends, how to share, don’t try to be too bossy, do as you’re told and you will just get along fine. Follow them few little simple rules, I said, don’t try to be bossy or tell someone else, you know. Listen and do what you’re told. I remember that, when this fellow Simmons I knew who relieved me, I knew him from St. John’s and I give him my flashlight and my little old, I had a little bunk and I give him and that was the last words I said to him. I said now you have twelve months to go here, don’t try to be a hero and do as you're told.

Mr. Mercer tells the youth he encounters in schools the same thing he told his fellow comrades, “Do as you are told and everything in life will be okay!”

Leslie Mercer

Mr. Leslie Mercer was born June 24, 1927 in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Being a child of the Great Depression, he went to work at the dockyard at a very young age. He was too young to volunteer for the Second World War but when the Korean War broke out he was quick to join with the Special Force. He became part of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery as a bombardier. After spending a year in Korea, Mr. Mercer returned to St. John’s, Newfoundland, married and raised a family.