Indigenous veterans look back on their military service
- EFN Staff | November 13, 2019
Corporal - Darrel Paintednose
Where were you stationed?
CP Petawawa for 5 years.
How old were you when you enlisted?
21, my brother joined when he was 17.
Was your family supportive in your decision to sign-up?
My dad made us join (lol), My dad was in Korean war as a medic, my brothers joined first then I joined later.
What memory comes to mind when you think back at your time?
I liked the exercise, where I was stationed was the only base in Canada that was very focussed on being in shape, lots of physical activity.
Did you receive any Awards or Medal’s, citations, honours during your time?
No, I was suppose to go to Germany in '88, and Cyprus in '89, I would have received medals if I had went.
Did the experience change you in any way when you got home?
Drank lots, and drank when I got home, at first I thought joining army would help change that, but people drank there too.
Steven Frost
Where were you stationed?
I was stationed in Calgary for 3 years, I then got posted in Cyprus for 6 months.
What memory comes to mind when you think back at your time?
Mostly the heat (lol), being out in the hot sun, but that was part of being a peacekeeper for the armed forces.
How old were you when you enlisted?
18
Was your family supportive in your decision to sign-up?
Very supportive, I was the first one in the family to join the armed forces.
Did you receive any Awards or Medal’s, citations, honours during your time?
No, but we all got a medal being with the United Nations, the Cyprus medal.
Did the experience change you in any way when you got home?
I was more aware of what was going on in world, and I also thought about what was I gonna do now that I'm home, since I was no longer a soldier, I sometimes wondered if it would have been better if I stayed enlisted ... but this all the past now. There was many things I learned, one of them was finance, I didn't know anything about that, my mother was a trapper, so there was no need for finance, but now, I was well prepared for a didn't world.
Victor Sanderson Combat Engineer, Corporal, Retired
Where were you stationed?
Chilliwack, BC.
How old were you when you enlisted?
22
Was your family supportive in your decision to sign-up?
Mixed reviews ...lol.
What memory comes to mind when you think back at your time?
You mean "The Blur?...lol", no, the friends I served with, all the men and the woman.
Did you receive any Awards or Medal’s, citations, honours during your time?
Yea, during my peacekeeping duty as a field engineer.
Did the experience change you in any way when you got home?
Not for awhile.....first the PTSD came, then nightmares came later...the discipline and the friends were gone, things started rolling down hill, I felt dis-enfranchised because one, I'm not a civilian, and two, I was no longer a warrior. When elders come by, they tell us who to pray for, and whose being forgotten, so we help spread the word to get people to pray for the forgotten. There used to be over a 100 million people on turtle Island, now there is only less than 2million....so lets not forget to pray for our ancestral warrior society.