Description
Mr. Grossinger talks about being a patrol for the UN but they were the only troops without weapons.
Red Grossinger
Red Grossinger was born in 1940 and lived most his life in Quebec. As eldest of 13 children, he felt a responsibility to find a job and help support the family. In 1957 he joined the local militia to help the family income. He then joined the Regular Forces in 1959 and completed tours in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Cyprus where he had some very close calls.
Transcript
We would be dispatched out on, on, on jeep patrol. We had a number of patrols in different zones and one thing interesting is that we were the only UN troops without weapons. Did not carry any, not even a knife. We were not allowed to carry a knife, nothing. Therefore we're allowed free access to both sides of the fighting zone. That means we could go as well in the, in the Hisbala control zone or the Lebanese Army control zone as well, the Israeli control zone, back and forth without any problem. The plates we had on our vehicle was, said UNSO, as the others said UNIFEL which was the fighting element of the or the, not the fighting element, but the, the armed element of the UN, was UNIFEL. But we had different plates. We had different types of, of vehicles, of jeeps or whatever and therefore we were very recognizable. Of course, wearing a blue beret constantly as the others wore helmets, flak jackets, which we didn't. But I was, that was hot, hot, but I enjoyed that job. It's, sometime we spend, oh, four, five, up to seven days in Lebanon without coming home. Some nights we'd be coming home. It all depends of the, what was at hand, you know, what was, what we had to do.