Remembrance

Heroes Remember

Remembrance

Transcript

Interviewer: So, as a kid, you didn't hear any stories about the war. No one was . . . Oh, the 11th November was about the only thing I heard. Used to go to school and line up and march four or five blocks down to the cenotaph, and that was it. Nothing compared with like it is today, here. Well, when I was in the service, it was a case of going on parade, going to the cenotaph. Camp Borden would have this cenotaph on the army side. We'd march over there and do our service and come home. That was it. But since coming back to the Yukon, here, I have been going around to schools as a Veteran, talking to the students and, I think, for the last, well, I would say eight or nine years, the teachers, this . . . and I'm not talking about all teachers . . . The teachers up in the Yukon, here. They have done a good job in, in telling people about the Armistice and all this sort of thing. And we have a terrific turnout on the 11th of November. Now, after the last war, I say, as I said before, we used to, go to school, line up, and march down to the cenotaph, and that was it. And now the people are being told what to do, and maybe it's because of the media, the films. Like, you know, at Vimy there was no, practically no films at all when the Canadians took that country, but . . . You know, the landing on D-Day . . . I often tell the kids,

Landing craft approaching the beach head.

Soldiers walking up the beach.

see that kid laying there. He was just about your age, you know.

Injured soldier being carried out by stretcher.

Depends on who you're talking to. And I think Armistice Days now, it's a continuation through the years, and every year it's improved. This year, the gym was fully filled with parents, dependants and kids. The kids do a lot of the writing themselves and it's a terrific job, and they're to be congratulated. So, that's what remembrance means to me, and you think back, you think of your buddies, that's not there. Oh, a half-brother of mine was killed in Vimy. Interviewer: Oh? Yep. And when I was stationed in France, I found his grave up in Arras, the village below Vimy. And the, the wife was alive at the time. We have three kids and we took them up there. I found the grave.

Description

Mr. Goodeill discusses the importance of remembrance, and passes on his appreciation for the work done in schools.

Joe Goodeill

Mr. Joe Goodeill was born in Saint George, New Brunswick, in 1917. When war was declared and men began to sign up, Mr. Goodeill followed suite and enlisted in the air force. After several months of training he was stationed in Halifax and had the job of ushering airmen overseas, returning with civilians or VIPs seeking safety in North America. When the war ended Mr. Goodeill remained with the air force, serving mostly as a drill instructor and eventually retiring in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.

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