GUELPH – Our Lady of Lourdes High School students had the opportunity to hear stories from Second World War and peacekeeper veterans on Nov. 6.
Grade 10 history students entered the school’s library and were greeted by 11 veterans. The school has been hosting veterans’ panels for over 20 years.
The purpose is for students to learn about the military, the benefits that come with serving and to ask questions of people who lived through unimaginable experiences.
School board trustee and former history department head Joe Tersigni was the brainchild behind the event and continues to help bring veterans to the school each year.
He also was emcee for this year’s panel.
“We have to stand with those who stood for us and that’s what is so very significant for veterans today,” Tersigni told the group.
Sgt. David Noonan is a former U.S. Marine and a Vietnam War veteran. He entered the military service at 18.
“I’m going to sound more like a recruiting voice for today. There’s no need to tell you about my experience in Vietnam,” he told students.
Noonan spoke of how the Marine Corps instilled discipline, pride, comradeship and sacrifice.
“It’s tough, I’m not going to deny that, but it’s worth every bit of it,” he said. “When you’re done after so many years, you’re going to be so proud.”
Corporal Moe Ferris was a United Nations (UN) peacekeeper in Egypt and his service began at age 16.
“What I came to talk about [is how] the veterans gave their youth away so we would have the future that we have today in Canada,” he said. “You are our future to help us stay safe.”
Ferris shared a story of a Grade 3 student who stated she knew how to make world peace.
“She said ‘you take every world leader and lock them up in prison and they cannot get out until they can hug and kiss each other and mean it,’” he said.
He noted “respect” seems to be lacking in present-day society.
Rifleman Jacques De Winter was a UN peacekeeper in Cyprus. He first joined at age 19. De Winter shared his experience being posted in Cyprus in 1965.
“Canada was the first to have troops there which was the Royal 22nd Regiment … followed by my regiment, The Queen’s Own Rifles,” he said.
De Winter noted his job was to keep “the Greeks and Turks apart and from killing each other.”
“In Cyprus, 28 peacekeepers had given their lives; paying the ultimate price,” he said. “More than 25,000 Canadians served in Cyprus over the decades. Many more than once.”
He ended his speech stating, “Canadians can be rightfully proud of our reputation as peacekeepers around the world.”
Bandsman Chuck Merry served in the Royal Canadian Ordinance Corps in WWII in the 11th Field Artillery Regiment.
He entered the service at 17 and is now 98 years old.
“I’ve spent a lot of years within the military, a lot of it as a musician and I’ve enjoyed it all,” Merry told the group. “I’d like to see all you young people here taking part in some form of the military when you get the chance.”
Sgt. Major James Stoneburgh started at the age of 16 and served with the Canadian Army. His title includes Canadian Forces Decoration, 11th Field Artillery Regiment.
Stoneburgh shard a story of a being blown off a road after a Syrian Air Force jet exploded 30 feet above him.
“That’s all in the day’s duties being a peacekeeper,” he told students.
Master Warrant Officer Edwin Haugen, Deputy Sgt. at Major 31 Brigade Battle School, served in the 11th Field Artillery Regiment, joined at age 17 and is a graduate of the Wellington Catholic board.
He reminded students of Canada’s oldest artillery regiment, the Guelph regiment. Haugen also noted the country’s reputation for volunteerism.
“We are homegrown units and Canada relies heavily on volunteers. No one is told to go, we step forward and we ask you to do the same,” he said.
Sgt. Michael Seitz served in the UN Airforce and was a peacekeeper for 26 years, joining the air force as an electrician.
His career took Seitz to Europe, Egypt, India and back to Canada.
“The air force for me was a very exciting career and I would suggest that anyone who was thinking of doing something like that consider the Canadian military,” he said.
Sgt. Evan Shields served in the Canadian Army as an artillery gunner in the 11th Field Regiment in Afghanistan.
The day the north and south towers of the World Trade Center were destroyed was the day he decided to join the military.
“I told my father … [when] I was 18 years old that I wanted to go to Afghanistan,” he said. “Imagine talking to your parents about something like that.”
At age 23, Shields was deployed in Afghanistan and “our job was to destroy and defeat the Taliban, which we did,” he said.
Shields has worn many hats and now teaches the next generation of troops.
Private Bill Seifried is a Regina Rifles Canadian Army WWII veteran. He was the oldest veteran at the event at age 100.
His daughter, Lynda Gilham, spoke of her father’s military experience “because after 80 years, the horrors of what he saw make him too sad,” she said,
Seifried joined the army at 18 and went to war in 1943.
“My dad was placed with the Royal Regina rifles from Saskatchewan, not with his friends, not with his training [group] and not with any training with a rifle either,” she said.
When he arrived in France “bullets were still like rain coming from the Germans when they landed on the beaches,” Gilham said.
The Canadian Army was given the task to cross over the Leopold Canal in Belgium to drive the Germans back.
“They had to lie on the ground and dig themselves in to hide,” she said.
Seifried fought there for five days without sleep.
“In an hour and a half over 2,000 were dropped around my dad and thousands of artillery shots and six months worth of grenades were used in five days,” Gilham added.
The Canadian government flew Seifried to Holland to experience its 80th anniversary of liberation.
He told Gilham it was the best thing that ever happened to him because he saw happy people and a beautiful county – making everything he went through worthwhile.
Seifried also got to unveil a Regina Rifleman statue in France with a member of the British royal family, Princess Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise.
“I’m so proud of him and he is so grateful every time he sees someone wearing a poppy,” Gilham said.
Private Elaine Pettigrew served with the Canadian Women Army Corps and began her service at 16.
“I’m here to represent all the women from the Canadian Women’s Army Corps that supported all these gentlemen that went overseas,” she said.
“When I joined women were pretty much restricted. I had worked in two stores and I worked in payroll.
“The women were not allowed in the field with the big guns. Nowadays, women can fly planes, they can steer ships and are even allowed out in the field,” Pettigrew said.
“I encourage all women to join up.”
Captain Rod Pettigrew served with the 11th Field Artillery Regiment starting at 16 and has been married to Elaine for almost 60 years.
He reminisced about his mother crying when he came home in uniform as many of her family members went overseas to fight and never came home.
Pettigrew joined the reserves in support of the regular force.
“During my tenure, I couldn’t go because my mom would not sign my papers for me to go across the border, because she knew then that that was not a good thing,” he explained.
Pettigrew stayed as an instructor from 1962 to 1972 and trained three of the veterans sitting beside him at the event.
“In between that time I see this young lady, she was wearing this uniform and I’m a sap for uniform,” he said pointing to Elaine.
Student comments
Grade 10 student Kira Egete spoke with the Advertiser for an interview after the veterans’ panel.
“This event was extraordinary,” she said. “I’m very thankful for their service and sacrifices that allow us, the youth, to live the life we have today.”
She added, “I recognize what they have endured and what they are still enduring to this very day. In the end we will never know what they truly went through, so I’m very grateful for them for being here today to share their experiences with us.
“Because the last thing we want is an ignorant and inconsiderate society.”
