Saving a family

Heroes Remember

Saving a family

The officer in charge at the time, our officer, platoon officer, who I didn't get along with anyhow, when I told him what had happened he used a rude term, couldn't believe it. But here's Blanchy with a pouches wide opened, blackened. Well both me and Blanchy we went down the line that morning but then while we were going we took prisoners with us and on the way we met up, we caught up to a family, a man and woman and a little girl about maybe 7 or 8 years old. The mother was crying, the father was crying, the little girl couldn't make head or tail of what was going on. And I walked up beside them and I said, "Where are you going?" " We don't know, we don't know where we're going, were just going just because everybody going that way we go too." They said. To the woman turned around to me and she said, "Why, why, the Germans come they took everything thing we had, left us destitute, nothing, not even something to eat, then you guys come along and blow my house down now I got no place to live." So I thought well, we'll, I said "The Tack HQ is only a way, a few minutes down the road," that's where we were going, I said "you come with me, we'll go down I'll, I'll, I'll get you somebody to help you." And when we got to Tack HQ I told them what had, what the woman had told me, they (inaudible). After that they were looked after but I never saw them again. But I'm on my way to the hospital and I was sick too at the time. I had yellow jaundice, which nearly killed me. Well that's one period of time what happened that night, next day.

Mr. Parker talks about moving down the line and helping an Italian family, who had lost all their possessions to the Germans, and had their house blown up by the Canadians.

Richard Allen Parker

Richard Allen Parker was born in Vernon, BC on May 27, 1917 to a First Nations family. He talks about his early years, the prejudice that he faced, and the meaning of being First Nations. He left home at an early age to work in the mines. He talks about joining the PPCLI in 1942, fighting the SS and Hitler Youth and his time in Algiers and Italy.