Stay or Go

Heroes Remember

Stay or Go

Transcript

Interviewer: With your tour of duty in Korea being over, you had to make a decision as to whether or not to stay in the Canadian military or demobilize... Well, I'm gonna tell you the truth what happened. 1957, I was called in to... if I was gonna sign up again. I said, "No, I'm gonna get out and see what's going on, on civvy street, and if I don't like it, I'll come back." So, that night... They used to call me "Baby Chaisson" ‘cause I only weighed about 112 pounds when I joined, anyway, so they had... "We're gonna have a party for you, Danny." Ok, down at the canteen, had a party. Next morning, I got up, boy, I wasn't feeling too good, so I went over and told the guys, "Bye, I hope to see you one of these days." Sergeant Major Powell said, "Where're you going?" I said, "I'm going home." He said, "No, you're not." I'd signed on for six years, and didn't know it. So that made nine years, so I decided to make it a career.

Description

Mr. Chaisson recalls how a going away party for him helped him decide to make a career out of the services.

Daniel Joseph Chaisson

Mr. Chaisson was born in New Waterford, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, on December 22, 1934. When his father returned from the Second World War in 1946, the family moved to Cheticamp. Mr. Chaisson attended school there until he was 14 but had to quit school and find a job to help support the family after his father got hurt and wasn't able to work. As Mr. Chaisson was about to turn 18 he found himself without work. As he was looking for another job he changed his mind, travelled to Halifax and joined the military. Immediately upon enlisting he volunteered to go to Korea. By the time he had finished training and was shipped overseas with the 3rd Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, the Korean War was ending, so the unit was posted as peacekeepers, returning to Canada a year later. After returning home, and debating wether to continue with the service, Mr. Chaisson decided to make a career as a soldier. In the remaining years of his career he served with UN and NATO Peacekeeping Forces overseas in Indo-China, Vietnam, and Germany, and home in Canada at various postings as an instructor. Mr. Chaisson eventually left the service due to illness in the family, and spent the following 10 years working for Parks Canada and missing the army, before completely retiring. Mr. Chaisson remains very proud of his service, and of the service of all who have enlisted, and encourages Canada's youth to join.

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