Going Above and Beyond Their Call of Duty

Heroes Remember

Going Above and Beyond Their Call of Duty

Transcript

At one point we built an orphanage near the town of Buzim, its north of Bihac where our base was. In that community there was an old lady that had taken all the children that had, not had their own, families were gone or they were abandoned or they were orphans. She was taking them in and looking after them. And the locals told us about this lady because they were concerned. She was living in a one-room house. There was no power, the roof was leaking. The cow was in the room with the kids. They were all sleeping on the concrete floor and, you know, not all of them had shoes. All these basics you have in Canada that you can’t imagine being without - no running water, nothing. Those of us in our platoon, we managed to discuss it. We talked about it, we raised money through the padre’s fund and through different fund raising campaigns. We had movie nights at the mess trying to raise money for the kids to get some stuff for their place. And instead of just going in and putting a roof on the house, we actually hired a local contractor to come in and do the work. We supervised, we helped and we rebuilt the roof and the story grew as we went. We were doing one thing, the other section was like well since you guys are doing the roof we’re going to get beds for the kids. So they managed to find bunk beds at one of the bases that weren’t being used. They acquired them and the mattresses. We were able to put in a wall in the house to give the mom some privacy and then we built a shed, a barn for the cow so that the cow didn’t have to live in the house with them anymore and it was those things that really helped get through the mission.

Description

Mr. McCue shares a story of how his team improved the living conditions of one family by raising funds and working off duty to create a better living space for them.

Robert McCue

Mr. Robert McCue was born August 22, 1972 in the city of Edmonton, Alberta. During his youth, he joined the air cadets and contributes this as a turning point towards a military career. Joining the Reserves, Mr. McCue became a part of the South Alberta Lighthorse Unit formerly known as the South Alberta Regiment. He accepted a deployment to Bosnia in 2003 as an infantry section commander, holding rank of sergeant. Later, he accepted a position with a newly developed unit, PSYOPS and deployed to Afghanistan in 2006. During this time Mr. McCue worked for Canada Post. Having a strong interest in military history and respecting the contributions made by his grandfather during WWI, Mr. McCue had the opportunity to travel as part of the delegation to Vimy in celebration of the 100th anniversary, an honour he will cherish for a lifetime. Mr. McCue presently resides in Edmonton, Alberta with his family.

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