Leaving War Behind

Heroes Remember

Leaving War Behind

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Transcript

Things rolled along, you get so involved I guess, in your new life, raising a family, new jobs, and starting my business, that this military part becomes secondary. I never dwelt on it, I always maintained my association with the regiment, you had too many friends, it was too close. You feel a great attachment, you know, a regiment, an infantry regiment particularly. And one with a tradition like ours, is more like a family, everybody knows each other closely. The commanding officer was like your uncle, and even though you had to discipline them, there were always warm feelings between all ranks. And so, you don't lose that easily. And those of us who did come back, I would have joined the, rejoined the reserve but my medical category was far too low by that time. And I've kept up with it over the years. I guess having been Minister of National Defence, then you re-generate that interest. And that was great, that was great because the people in the forces knew that you were in the armed forces. And most of them, I was in it before just about anybody who was serving in the military at that time. And so, since I was senior, and they didn't know how little I knew, so I could get away with murder. But I felt I was dealing with people I knew and understood, and a system I knew and understood, and I think they felt that too, so that made it a very nice fit.

Description

Mr. Danson describes the strong bonds between the men of the Infantry Regiment. As well, he mentions how he left the war behind and moved on with his life.

Barnet J (Barney) Danson

Mr. Danson was born in Ontario, 1921. Before the war, Mr. Danson worked for Columbia pictures. As a Jewish man, he was aware of the political situation in Europe. His instincts told him that war was imminent and he felt a sense of urgency to fight. As a result, he joined the Army during peacetime in hopes of being trained and ready to serve if war broke out. Mr. Danson was an Infantry Officer with the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada. In the Fall of 1944 he was wounded, thus ending his war effort. After the war, he had a successful business and later entered politics where he served as the Minister of Defence in the Trudeau Government.

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