There’s no glory in war.

Heroes Remember

There’s no glory in war.

Transcript

It was just a war that we went through. It was just a war that every soldier, every person had a thing to do, they done it. The men that went to war went for one purpose - to make things better for people. That they were serving their country in what ways they could, but let them know that there is no glory in war. I found out one thing when I went back to Holland in April - that the people there are so grateful to the soldiers and airmen, vice versa, the Canadians that liberated them, that sometimes I felt like, “Gee, you’re embarrassing me.” Because when I was over there, there was a group of people that were asking me questions and vice versa. I told them, “Hey, that we were there for one thing - to try to make it better for somebody else and make it better for us. Don’t think we were just there to save you.” I told them we were there to save ourselves too, you know. We just didn’t go over there to save people over there. We went to serve, I guess, our country and make it better for people here, isn’t it? That’s what all them guys over there laying underneath the stones, that’s what they did it for.

Description

Mr. Berry reflects on war in general and discusses the gratitude of the Dutch.

Irving Malcolm Berry

Irving Berry was born on March 10, 1924 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. He attended South End School, but left school early to find work. At the time that war broke out, he was working as a porter for the bus company, earning $3.50 per day. Mr. Berry was aware that the recruiting officer in Halifax was prejudiced against blacks, but managed to successfully enlist. His training took place in Camp Borden, and then he shipped overseas, joining the 86th Bridging Company, Royal Canadian Army Service Corps. Mr. Berry’s active service in France began twenty-one days after the D-Day invasion. His company’s responsibility was to deliver bridge building components to the Front, and if needed, assist in the actual construction of new bridges. Three major areas of activity were the Seine, Arnheim, and the Rhine. Mr. Berry left the Armed Forces after the war, but reenlisted in the RCASC in1952. He retired with the rank of Sergeant in 1974.

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