Who wants to remember that?

Heroes Remember

Who wants to remember that?

Transcript

It's memories of, of what you've seen, I think. The devastation, what well, what 20 minutes can do to a whole area, to a whole town. And I have no idea what the death toll was at that point. You... watching people wait for the garbage truck for God's sake. Who the hell wants to remember that sort of thing? And having to guard the damn thing. I mean we guarded that truck 24 hours a day I guarded the garbage truck for about, oh, let's see, five months there. About three months of it I spent on watch. My watch was a garbage truck. I carried a .45 and a carbine rifle and when that garbage truck left the ship loaded, I rode that garbage truck. And I stood on, on guard until it was dumped. Once it was dumped, the civilians could come to it. Until then, nobody could come near it. It's, it's a hell of a way. It's kinda hard on the kids when you come home ‘cause... you know, they'd sit there and, "Well, I don't like that." "Well, a lot of people in the world are going hungry, and you'd better eat it." You know, that's the attitude you have ‘cause you've seen too much of it. They used to... The cooks deliberately would dump, dump, like cream corn, dump it out. There's always that bit in the bottom, never scrape it out. Any vegetables, trimming off meat from the bones and stuff, never too close. That was all set and it went. Then this is what the people scavenged. They'd take the cans and scrape it out. Take the bones and boil ‘em for soup. But there was always a crowd there. It's a hell of a, hell of a thing to have to stand there and watch. And have to stand there and make sure they don't get anywhere near it till the truck has dumped it, and...

Description

Mr. Stewart describes the desperation of the hungry in Bremerhaven, Germany.

Edward Stewart

Mr. Stewart was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1926. Following his father's footsteps, he attempted to join the navy, but was under age. Drafted at the age of 18, he was selected for naval duty. Mr. Stewart served aboard troop ships during the latter stages of the Second World War, both on deck and in the engine room, and spent considerable time ashore in Germany, France and Denmark. He also sailed on one of the mass-produced Liberty ships. Mr. Stewart eventually moved to Harriston, Ontario, where he worked 38 years for Canada Packers.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 02:02
Person Interviewed:: Edward Stewart
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Europe
Battle/Campaign:: North Atlantic
Branch:: Navy
Units/Ship:: Europa
Rank:: Able Seaman
Occupation:: Deck Crew, Engine Room

Language selection

Who wants to remember that?

Heroes Remember