"Your Son Has Been Found"

Heroes Remember

"Your Son Has Been Found"

You think a lot about home and my mother kept me alive I think, you know just... Interviewer: So there was no communication, was she aware? Two and a half years before they found out. And when they, when I was free, when we were home ah, my dad was station agent outside of, out of, Regina and between Regina and Holdfast ( inaudible ) his town was a little town called Craven and the agent there wired him one morning and said "Your son has been freed" Interviewer: Oh wow, good feeling. That's how they found out.

Mr. McGee tells how his parents weren’t aware that he was a prisoner until an agent wired them and told them their son had been freed.

John McGee

Mr. John McGee was born in Saskatchewan, on May 3, 1923, and comes from a family of two brothers and three sisters. He now resides in Edmonton, Alberta, with his wife and family. Mr. McGee joined the army and left for wartime service with a group of thirteen men. Although very excited to be going overseas, he recalls the sight of seeing young men jumping overboard when the ship began to sail; the fear of the unknown was causing many to turn back and stay at home! Mr. McGee was determined to go and serve his country. Mr. McGee shares with us his personal experience of being captured as a Hong Kong prisoner of war (POW) and hardships he endured at the camp. He considers himself very fortunate to be alive today, as many of his friends were left behind. After six years of serving in the army, Mr. McGee returned home to be what he terms an "Entrepreneur" buying a few hotels and later on getting into the sales business. Civilian life was a very positive outcome for a soldier who had endured such hard times and poor health during his time in the prisoner of war camps.