What is more important: family or country?
It’s a question Ray Pearse, retired Petty Officer 1st Class for the Royal Canadian Navy, contemplated often during his 24 years in the navy.
Pearse, who grew up in Fergus, joined the navy in 1954, just a few years after he was out of high school.
He joined as Canada was wrapping up its involvement in the Korean War.
“The [war] was on then but by the time I got out of basic training the war was over,” said Pearse. “I should have gone in when I quit high school, but I didn’t.”
Pearse worked in the engineering branch of 13 ships during his military career, including the HMCS Haida in 1958 and 1959. The destroyer is now permanently docked on the Hamilton waterfront as a National Historic Site of Canada.
Pearse spent the longest time on HMCS Annapolis, a ship that was decommissioned and sunk in Halkatt Bay, B.C. to be an artificial reef on April 4, 2015.
He spent over 13 years at sea, away from home and in the middle of the Cold War.
“The USSR wanted world war three but they didn’t want to start it and so they tried to aggravate the West into retaliating and we didn’t do that,” Pearse said. “It was a seesaw thing all the time … the navy was always on patrol, always trying to keep the sea lanes open. (We) tried to cope with the USSR who didn’t obey any rules of the sea at all and it was just an ongoing thing.
“The closest we ever came to getting into a shooting war was during the Cuban missile crisis.”
While the countries involved were on edge, Pearse said the navy was practicing constantly and prepared to go to war at any time.
“We thought that we were actually going to go to war with [the USSR]. We were actually surprised when [it] fell apart,” he said.
Asked what it was like to be on the brink of war, he said, “You really don’t put it in your mind. You got a job to do and you just do it. If it happens, you’re prepared. That what we were there for.”
He added, “You’re there to protect your country from any aggression, that’s what the Canadian Armed Forces are all about today, any day. They’re there to protect you.”
Pearse never questioned his decision to join the navy, even though it meant he was away from his family, a wife and four children, for many months at a time. He decided, after 24 years, he wanted to retire and see his kids grow up.
“When I got out of the navy, the hardest thing I had to do was learn to live with my wife and my kids, we have four children, two boys and two girls … and none of them knew who I was,” he said.
Pearse would bring home gifts for his kids from foreign ports, but he averaged nine months of the year away from home. He travelled to 49 different counties and said he has probably logged two million miles at sea.
“I could have stayed for 30 years … but I thought I didn’t know (my kids) and they didn’t know me,” he said.
“I thought if I stayed another five years and it meant five years more of going to sea, that one or two of them might just be married by the time I got 30 years in, if that was the case, I would have never got to know them. I thought if I am going to have any relationship with my kids at all, I got to get out now. So I got out at 25 (years), and I have a fantastic relationship with all of them.”
Pearse’s service to Canada did not end when he retired. He decided to join the Royal Canadian Legion. He initially joined Elora Branch 229 as a bartender in 1983.
He then transferred to Fergus Branch 275 in 2003 to serve as its poppy campaign chairman. He was president from 2010 to 2012 and has been on the executive ever since.
“Being a veteran myself, I personally think that everybody that’s been in the service should be a Legion member because they benefit from the Legion,” he said.
Greg Manion, past president of the Fergus Legion, said Pearse is a well liked, invaluable member of the Legion member.
“Ray, being a veteran, has always believed in what the Legion stands for and the work that the Legion does,” said Manion. “He’s very committed to make sure we fulfilled the commitment of our mission statement: to look after veterans and their families’ needs.”
Manion added with a laugh that Pearse has “told us many stories about his colourful navy career.”
Pearse has been heavily involved over the years with Fergus Remembrance Day ceremonies, whether as the master of ceremonies, acting chaplain, or as the poppy campaign chair. He also usually has a speech to give to children who attend the Nov. 11 ceremonies.
Through the Legion, Pearse has found a way to be with his family and serve his country.
