Fear of Israel Joining the War

Heroes Remember

Fear of Israel Joining the War

Transcript

Interviewer: Tell me Colonel Ethell, during that period of time was there any concern that the Israeli's might become involved in the conflict? Oh, of course there was a concern, there was a big concern, talking with Kyam and a couple of others, they said, "You know this is the first time we've been attacked and we haven't retaliated, but he will pay eventually, because we've got a long memory." You could imagine the pressure that was brought to bear by the Americans specifically, to keep Israel out of it, that's why the attacks, the SCUDS were coming in. If the Israeli's got involved, remember the Syrians and the Egyptians were providing troops to the coalition, they didn't shoot "diddly-squat" but they were there and they were so far back on the line of march they would have never got to near the fighting, but they were there. If the Israeli's started to play, that puts a whole different complexion on Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria and so forth. So I expect there was a lot of pressure.

Description

Mr. Ethell recalls the concerns about the possibility of Israel entering the war.

Donald Stewart Ethell

Donald Stewart Ethell was born in July 1937 and was raised in Victoria, BC. His father was a Veteran of both the First and Second World Wars. His mother was a nurse. He and his sister attended boarding school because of his parents' jobs and he was only home at Christmas and during the summer. His mother passed away when Mr. Ethell was 10 years old.

When he enlisted, Mr. Ethell joined the Queen's Own Rifles in Calgary. After several years of serving as an infantryman he was recommended for the officer training. Mr. Ethell graduated from the program and rose to the rank of Colonel. He went on to command Canadian, and United Nations, forces in various missions all over the world. In the mid 1990s, Col. Ethell retired with over thirty-five years of distinguished service.

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