Navy Always my Choice

I thought if I am going to join, I am going to volunteer to go to Korea because that was where my friends were going so I said I want to be there, I want to volunteer for Korea so they put that down and gave me priority to get the next ship that would be going. But I had to be trained first, I had to have a trade. So I had to go to Halifax for my seamanship training and I went on a cruiser, Quebec, to do my seamanship training and when I finished that I, because I joined up in Winnipeg I was considered a west coast (inaudible) so my primary duties would be on the west coast. And so I got transferred to the west coast after I finished my basic training or my seamanship training and I had to take my trade course. I became a sonar man out of Esquimalt and when I finished my sonar course I got posted to the Crusader, the ship that was going to Korea. It had already just come back from Korea and it was going to get a short refit and go right back to Korea with a new crew which was us. I thought I had excellent training as an ordinary seaman and I was eager to practice what I had been learning on a very high performance destroyer which is what the Crusader was.

Although many of Mr. Flett’s friends joined the army, he speaks about his choice to join the navy and his desire to take part in the Korean War.

Victor Flett

Mr. Victor Flett was born September 5, 1928 in Selkirk, Manitoba. He was the youngest of five, with one sister and three brothers. At three years of age his mother passed and he was then raised by his grandmother. Living on “Grandfather’s land” and attending a one room schoolhouse, life for Mr. Flett was challenging although he considers it a great inspiration to his success in life. During his later years, Mr. Flett chose to join the navy and took part in the Korean War holding rank of ordinary seaman on board the HMCS Crusader with an occupation as sonar man. Mr. Flett retired after 33 years of service. He married, raised a family and now resides in his hometown of Sooke, British Columbia.