Early years and enlisting

I started school when I was 5 years old which would be roughly 1931 because of my birthday being in November, you were allowed to start school as a 5 year old and turn 6 very early in the year. But the sad part of my early schooling was I couldn't speak English. And I went to school for half a day and I used to think I was a sharp kid, I thought I knew a few things but I never learned English because I had nobody to learn from. My parents couldn't speak English and most of the family, the older part of the family was in school in Gruard. And by noon, because I was interviewed, not interviewed, they were asking me a lot of questions on the blackboard. Not just me, the class, about what these numbers meant, eh.
And I was answering everything in Cree. I said one was a fencepost and it got to six I said it was a cat's tail and the whole class was laughing because they could all understand Cree. And when they said seven I said it was an axe. That's what it appeared to me as an Indian kid. And I got sent home by noon. And I went home crying and my mother, we only lived about three blocks from the school at that time. It wasn't blocks it was just about that distance. And my mother come and met me and seen me crying and said "What's the matter, son"? all in Cree. I said, "They don't want me over there". And she said "Why? " and I said "Because I can't speak English". That's all I understood I got sent home for. Then she come and hugged me which meant a lot in those days, or any day for that matter. She said, "Son, you will prove to them someday that you're better than that". And I never forgot those words.
So the following year I started school, by this time my older brother could speak a little bit of English cause he had already had went to school a year. And I started to grasp school pretty good. And one of the things that happened in my life, in the early part, because I think I tried harder, I don't know if it was bitterness or just the drive I had as a young kid. I done four grades in two years in junior ranks. And I don't think anybody ever beat that record there then but somebody else might have in some other areas. But through those kind of early accomplishments helped the future of the way I had to try to accomplish things. I always had in my mind that I'll prove to that person I'm as good as him, never told him. And it proved to this day, even my children, whom I got two of them with university degrees now and I have two grandchildren that's going to university. So I didn't tell them to go to school but they had a feeling they had to accomplish things that are facing us now. The more we get educated, the better chance we have. And I had that same little vision, although I didn't go to school as much as I should have, when I went to the Army as a fifteen year old.
Interviewer: Do you recall the day that Canada declared war on September 10th, 1939?
Oh yes, I was in school.
Interviewer: What was your reaction? What did you think it meant to you?
Well, we were very fortunate. Our school teacher, I still remember her, Mrs. Vechto, she was a German Canadian, and she had a lot of following in the current events of the war, and every morning she'd give us about ten minutes of what she knew was going on, listening to the radio, especially when Germany was hitting those small countries, Poland and all those. I took an interest in it. For some reason, I thought I should be over there, you know, when I grow up, not at that minute, but. And I always had the feeling, and one of the things that I seen early, as a teenager, that every available aged Aboriginal person joined the Army. Some of them got turned down because they had mild defects or some of them had, you know, small sicknesses that they couldn't pass.
Other than that, it was almost like a pride to go into the army and serve the country. In the back of my mind, I thought I should join up but I was gonna wait til I go back to school, and you know, I had those ideas. But I met a group of young fellows who were from that area, around High Prairie and (inaudible) so on. There was about five of them and they wanted to join the Army and they said "Sam, you should come with us". I said, "I'm not old enough". "Oh, heck, you're as big as we are". For a person almost sixteen, I was big for my age. I was 150 lbs. So I said "Ok, I'll tag along"and naturally, I didn't get a chance to communicate this to my father and mother because we had no phones. And even Slave Lake then, there was probably around two phones in the white houses, maybe four families had a phone.
Anyway, there was no communication. But one person who did have a phone was the Catholic priest and after the third day in the Army with uniform, I run into a lady who was my mother's friend seen me in uniform and said, "When did you join the Army? " and I said "Just the other day." And she said right away, "You're underage". "Well", I said "don't tell my mother that I joined up cause I'm only gonna stay awhile and when they found out I was underage, they'll kick me out". That was the excuse I used but I fully intended to stay in the Army. And sure enough, when she got back even though I went and bought her supper and everything to tell her not to squeal on me, but she did. You know old ladies, they always protect each other. And about, I must have been in the Army about a week and I got called in to the MAT, company commander right here in Prince of Wales Armouries in Edmonton that I was underage and the Catholic priest was the one my mother depended on. But the fortunate part was, in my case, when they checked my birth, it didn't show Samuel John Sinclair, it's shown that John Jamire which is you and then they thought I was a different person.
So that, that helped me stay in but I was getting threatened left and right, I'd go to jail if I lied and what gave me the difference of courage, there was a Sergeant in the recruiting office who knew my dad a little bit and his name was Sergeant Wood. I can still remember that man. And he come and whispered in my ear, he said, "What'd you tell them you are, what did you give as an age? " I said "Eighteen". He says, "Stick to your word", he said "they'll have to believe you or kick you out". So I did, I just kept repeating I was eighteen and so on and pretty soon they kind of left me alone but I'd get called periodically into the office and, you know, threatened some more. But they, they kind of left it alone and then when D-day come in 1944, they got desperate for people to go overseas. And I was stationed in Wainwright and I already had signed my name to try and be a paratrooper. I was young and I filled all the other qualifications. And they said we were going to Calgary. And I said, "What about the, I thought we were going to Charlope where the training... He said, "That'll come later, forget about the paratroopers for now". He said, "You're gonna take special training in Calgary, Curry barracks at the time. So I went there and in three months, I was on my way overseas as a reinforcement.
Interviewer: How old were you when you were going overseas?
Seventeen.