Experiencing Fear

Heroes Remember

Experiencing Fear

Transcript

First time I was in Norway there was always that side of fear. I had a rifle pointed right at me. There was a Norwegian there, a Norwegian Liberation Front, or I can’t even remember exactly what it was, but he didn’t want the Canadians or NATO there. And he was walking around our camp and he had a rifle and me and another guy, his first name was Pete, we, I was standing, I was coming back, ‘cause the bathrooms were all outside, of all things, and I was coming back from the bathroom and he started yelling at me and pointed a rifle right at me. Yeah, that was pretty terrifying, but fortunately he was yelling loud enough. Pete came out of the tent, because we were living in tents then. Between me talking and training kicking in, I mean the training kicks in pretty quick when you’re scared like that, and Pete ended up taking him down. Norwegian police came and that. It was scary while you were going through it, but I mean at the same time it’s sort of invigorating and you get the adrenaline rush saying, “Jeez, what happened there?”

Description

Mr. Rutherford describes the sense of fear a soldier has when being confronted by the enemy.

Mark Rutherford

Mr. Rutherford was born in St. Laurent, Quebec, on March 1, 1962. After making the decision to join the Canadian Forces, Mr. Rutherford became a member of the Royal Canadian Infantry Regiment. He received training in London, Ontario, and participated in theatres of service in Somalia and Cyprus. After retiring from his military career, Mr. Rutherford trained to become an addiction counsellor and became employed with the Department of National Defence in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He used his knowledge and military experience to assist fellow soldiers in coping with the emotional effects resulting from their deployments.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 1:04
Person Interviewed:: Mark Rutherford
War, Conflict or Mission:: Canadian Armed Forces
Location/Theatre:: Norway
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: Royal Canadian Infantry Regiment

Language selection

Experiencing Fear

Heroes Remember