Forty nine pound sledge hammer

Heroes Remember

Forty nine pound sledge hammer

Transcript

And some of the boys went to the shipyard and some of us went to D5. They picked out the 49 of us in the foundry to break pig iron, a 49 pound sledge hammer; long handle and the big sledge hammer on it. So the Honcho, you know the boss, we each got one and I took a swing to break the pig iron, a big hammer eh, and I hit too far so the hammer part just dropped and broke. I got the handle in my hand, eh. I looked at the other guys and they all went the same as I did; I didn't know what was going to happen. So the Honcho, the boss, come around “Huh...buckharo!” That's one word I never found out in Japan what it meant, must have been a swearing word because they all said it when they were mad. He grabbed it, I figured he was going to get me another one. Like hell. He grabbed it and he knocked me cold. He hit me on the head with it. Well, when I come to he was gone, come back awhile later, I'm still pretty dizzy. I'm on my feet though. And he got another one, another hammer. He hands it to me, “Shigato!” work, shigato means work, now I know that. I know their language. So I tell you I look at that goddamn hammer and I gotta hit it right otherwise I get another hammer on my head, eh

Description

Mr. Bourbonniere tells a story about working with a sledge hammer and getting punished by a guard.

Armand Bourbonniere

Armand Bourbonniere was born on May 7th 1922 in Ericksdale, Manitoba. He was the youngest of ten children. His father worked in the dairy transportation business. Mr. Bourbonniere left school when he was 14 years old to work for his father picking up cream and eggs from local farms until he turned sixteen when he moved to Winnipeg and worked at a cleaning company picking up clothes until he joined the Army in September 1939.

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