Sharing Memories of Belgian family

Heroes Remember

Sharing Memories of Belgian family

Transcript

Army life is not the best world but it’s not the worst. If you behave yourself you can survive. Keep yourself clean, wash your own socks, do this, do that, keep your hygiene up, keep clean, be clean and you’ll survive. Some didn’t, sometimes all of a sudden they disappeared, and you didn’t know where they went. They sent them back home. They’re not suitable. I stayed. Did a long trip from the south of Italy up into Belgium and there was a bivouac in Belgium, we stayed in Belgium and we were allowed in if we wanted to find a family we kind of live with a little bit. And I did meet this couple they had two children and I tried to help the kids. They would go and do this and we’d talk together and I took them to the tank and showed them the tank and put them up inside the driver’s seat and put them up in the turret. Take them back to their family and then I could have a little meal with them. That was something that I liked for them. That was one item that I think I did something right in my life for someone else.

Description

Reflecting back on his service, Mr. Johnson tells of a special time in his life where he was welcomed into the home of a Belgium family.

Bernie Johnson

Mr. Bernie Johnson was born May 29, 1923 in new Brunswick. As a child he grew up in Alberta on farm where he worked and provided assistance to his parents as during the depression resulted in great poverty for he and his siblings. With little income for the family Mr. Johnson decided to join the service and go to war. He attended training camp in New Water Barracks with the Sherman tanks and before heading off to Europe became qualified as a Tank driver with the Canadian Army Corp holding rank of Private. Mr. Johnson spent five and a half years overseas, a Veteran of the Italian Campaign. When war ended he returned home to Alberta where he then married and raised a family. To this day he continues to be a proud member of the legion in his local community of Calgary, Alberta.

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