Early years and enlisting

Heroes Remember

Early years and enlisting

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Description

Mr. Sinclair speaks of the difficulty he encountered as a Cree going into an English-only school system at the age of 5 years. He also recalls the day Canada declared war on Germany in September, 1939 and his later enlistment in the Canadian Army.

Samuel John Sinclair

Samuel John Sinclair, an aboriginal Veteran of the Second World War, was born on November 22, 1926 in Lesser Slave Lake, Alberta. His father was a trapper and a mixed farmer as well as a good hunter. Mr. Sinclair had 12 brothers and sisters. Before being sent to school he spoke only Cree, which made his early education quite challenging. He worked hard, learned to speak English and eventually did quite well at school. He stayed in school until Grade 10.

He joined the army underage at 15 without permission from his parents. He was big for his age and told everyone he was 18. He was stationed in Wainwright, Alberta where his first job involved being a dishwasher. At the age of 17 when the Canadian army needed men for the invasion of Europe, he was shipped overseas as one of the reinforcements after D-day.

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