Remembering November 11th

Interviewer: What does November 11th mean to you? Well, first of all, with me, I have … I have three beers on that day. first thing. And that's for my buddies, the ones that were close to me, Bill, Stone, and Kopache. And then the rest is remembering all the other fellas. But those three fellas is who I have the beer for. And I've been doing that … I've only missed one year in 57 years, and that was when I first came in here. I turned around, and I come downstairs, and I got lost. I couldn't find my way back again. When I went up, I wouldn't come back down again. And it was … November the 11th had come, and I didn't worry too much, because I had to go back in on the 15th to have the second leg off, so I … But other than that, oh, we look forward in here. But it's getting very close. I think now, I'm the only Korean Veteran in here. There was a couple of others, a couple moved out. A couple of them died, you know.

Mr. Niles describes how he honors his three closest friends who died in Korea.

Joseph Allan Niles

Mr. Joseph Allan Niles was born December 15, 1932, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the oldest of four children. His father enlisted for service during the First World War, but was released for medical reasons, and found work in the dockyards. Mr. Niles grew up in downtown Halifax, and at age fourteen, he left school to work as a labourer, working on many buildings in the Halifax area. Mr. Niles enlisted on May 4, 1951, at age 17, with the Canadian Armed Forces in Halifax. He became part of a Special Force with the Royal Canadian Regiment, serving in Korea. He commenced his basic training in Camp Petawawa, Ontario, and completed his advanced training in Camp Wainwright, Alberta. In March 1952, Mr. Niles left for Korea, first travelling by train to British Columbia, then to Seattle, Washington, where he boarded a troop ship to Japan and Korea. Mr. Niles took part in fighting patrols and saw action on the front lines in Korea. After his one year tour of duty was completed, he volunteered for an additional three year term in the army, and remained in Korea until the end of October, 1953. He was discharged from the Armed Forces in June, 1954, and settled in Montreal where he found a job with the railroad. His employment later took him to Truro, Nova Scotia. Mr. Niles died in the Veteran’s Memorial Hospital in Halifax, on April 30, 2007.