Looking for Excitement

Heroes Remember

Looking for Excitement

Transcript

I know our fellows were, were gung-ho. You know, they, they, they wanted to go overseas there was no, there was no question about it. I mean they joined the service to go overseas. I was, I was very anxious to go overseas because my older brother had been over there for about, almost two years when I went over, and he'd spent a great deal of time in Italy, in the artillery and so on, and so, I couldn't think of living with my older brother, who’d been overseas, and my younger brother, who hadn't been. For me, joining the service and not going overseas would've been a tragedy. You know, a mental tragedy to me. I joined, I joined the service to go overseas. I wanted the excitement, and so on. I, and I, I liked the army. Every bit of the army I liked, regarding the discipline, etc, etc And I think, as I say, if I hadn't gone overseas, well, it wouldn't have even been a hollow victory for me.

Description

Mr. Melanson reflects on his reasons for wanting to serve overseas.

Russel C Melanson Sr.

Mr. Melanson was born in Mill Village, Nova Scotia, on August 16, 1922. He worked on a farm and in the woods, and completed his education before his first attempt to enlist. He was turned down by the navy as he was underage. Similarly, after joining the West Novies, an artillery regiment, he was discharged for being underage. He was finally accepted into the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion and completed his basic training in Shilo, Manitoba. Once overseas, he was attached to the 3rd Brigade, 6th Airborne Division. Mr. Melanson's first action was at the Battle of the Bulge. His second was the Allied /Russian advance into Germany from the east. After leaving the army, Mr. Melanson became a hydrographer, and retired as the Regional Hydrographer, Bedford Institute of Oceanography.

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