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Military and Civilian Casualties

Heroes Remember

Military and Civilian Casualties

Transcript
Remembrance Day for me is a time when I try to instill in my children and in my grandchildren the importance of remembering what happened. Not so much the suffering that we went through as soldiers, but what happened in these lands, the dying, the suffering, the total dehumanization of a people, of people and that happened. And this is why we try to remember. It's not only remembering our comrades, those that went before us and died. We do remember those people, but there's more to it than that. And that's my responsibility to them. I try to do that. It's interesting that this year the students that I talk to and I had..., they gave me great respect because there wasn't a sound, and usually kids are noisy and unattentive or inattentive, and these weren't and they wanted to know. I told them, there were children like you and there were. And so I think that's a responsibility of mine too, if I can just reach one or two of those youngsters and that they understand and carry that message. And their primary responsibility is to ensure that politicians talk about peace. War is not the answer. It wasn't in Korea, it wasn't in the Second World War, it wasn't in the First World War but there are times I know that it becomes necessary that you have to stand up and be counted and one of the ways is dying and that's war.
Description

Mr. Ferguson discusses the importance of remembering both military and civilian victims of war. He stresses the need for today’s youth to lobby our politicians to adopt a stance that embraces peace as the first option.

Luther Ferguson

Luther Ferguson was born in Mayview, Saskatchewan on October 23, 1933. He describes himself as being “unworldly, poorly educated and having low self-esteem.” Mr. Ferguson felt that the Army offered him the best opportunity to both further his education and improve his life. He enlisted in 1951, and soon found himself a combatant in the Korean War, where he served in the infantry. Mr. Ferguson’s accounts lean heavily on the psychological impacts of training and warfare, and the devastation experienced by the civilian population during the Korean conflict.

Meta Data
Medium:
Video
Owner:
Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:
2:31
Person Interviewed:
Luther Ferguson
War, Conflict or Mission:
Korean War
Battle/Campaign:
Korea
Branch:
Army
Units/Ship:
Royal Canadian Regiment
Rank:
Private
Occupation:
Infantryman

Copyright / Permission to Reproduce

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