Friends of Veterans Tour Logs http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=69 A time to catch up on the Log Book.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=68
Three more Interviews, jumped on a Ferry for Saint John.

The day started with a trip to downtown Digby to pick up the booth that we had used all weekend. I managed to get everything loaded up and I headed back to the legion. Sue Dexter-White had set up three more interviews this morning for me before I was to take the ferry to Saint John. I did the interviews with Sherman Rice, Philip Dondale and Thomas Cleveland. Sue and I said our good-bye's and I thanked her for all of her help over the weekend.
I had my final look at Digby on my way to the ferry. If you ever get a chance to visit Digby, for that matter anywhere in Nova Scotia take the time, because the people are great and there is lots to see.

I used the time on the ferry to catch up on my log book. As I am writing the ship is rolling a little. This makes me wonder what must have been going though the minds of all the soldiers, navy and merchant marine personnel that were headed for England during WW2. They must have been thinking of family and home. I know that is what I am thinking about as I make the turn for home on this sunny crossing of the Bay of Fundy. I'LL bet that when these men and women that crossed the ocean, from the port of Halifax, had a lot of things going though their minds. Will I come home? Will my wife or girlfriend wait for me? Is my mum going to be mad when she finds out that I joined the forces at the age of 14? By the way there was lots of men who signed up for combat that where under age. They left as boys and came back, if they came back, as men.
After typing for two and a half hours I decided to go up on deck and have a look see. The wind was blowing quite briskly. Standing there on the deck at the bow of the ship I realized that I liked being on the water and if I had to choose between the services, I would enjoy being in the navy. A stiff wind in our face, a rolling deck under your feet, the smell of salt in the air, it felt like home. Although flying in a spitfire over England during the Battle of Briton must have been exiting. But one thing is for sure, I would never go into the infantry. The mud and the cold the bombs and the primitive conditions, I respect all the guys that served in that branch of the military. I interviewed a infantry man who didn't take his uniform off from landing at D-Day until three months latter. Now that is commitment. Those men had it tough.

After we docked in Saint John, I drove the Blue Bomber to a side street in town to see if my remote Internet would get a signal. I got onto the Internet and proceeded to check my email. I had not been able to get onto the net for a week or so. I had over one hundred messages. I tried to answer them all. I received many letters of a-job-well-done, which is very encouraging.

I drove over to the Lancaster Legion in Saint John. I walked in and got a enthusiastic welcome. Everybody had seen the live at five interview that aired last week on CTV in Halifax about our organization. I heard about a dance that night for the big hall upstairs this night. I asked if I could offer some T-shirts for donations during the dance. Wayne, the manager didn't seem to have a problem with it, so I set up a little display.

I had a chance to give a little speech at the dance. I told the crowd of my trip and of my sponsor, without whom this trip would have never taken place. The Van Dyke family of Journey's by Gerry Van Dyke of Cambridge Ontario are great citizens of Canada. The evening went very well with the donation coming in. I talked with the cute bartender all night, but she is married, so I guess I'm still available Ladies. I turned in about mid night.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=67
Three more Interviews, jumped on a Ferry for Saint John.

The day started with a trip to downtown Digby to pick up the booth that we had used all weekend. I managed to get everything loaded up and I headed back to the legion. Sue Dexter-White had set up three more interviews this morning for me before I was to take the ferry to Saint John. I did the interviews with Sherman Rice, Philip Dondale and Thomas Cleveland. Sue and I said our good-bye's and I thanked her for all of her help over the weekend.
I had my final look at Digby on my way to the ferry. If you ever get a chance to visit Digby, for that matter anywhere in Nova Scotia take the time, because the people are great and there is lots to see.

I used the time on the ferry to catch up on my log book. As I am writing the ship is rolling a little. This makes me wonder what must have been going though the minds of all the soldiers, navy and merchant marine personnel that were headed for England during WW2. They must have been thinking of family and home. I know that is what I am thinking about as I make the turn for home on this sunny crossing of the Bay of Fundy. I'LL bet that when these men and women that crossed the ocean, from the port of Halifax, had a lot of things going though their minds. Will I come home? Will my wife or girlfriend wait for me? Is my mum going to be mad when she finds out that I joined the forces at the age of 14? By the way there was lots of men who signed up for combat that where under age. They left as boys and came back, if they came back, as men.
After typing for two and a half hours I decided to go up on deck and have a look see. The wind was blowing quite briskly. Standing there on the deck at the bow of the ship I realized that I liked being on the water and if I had to choose between the services, I would enjoy being in the navy. A stiff wind in our face, a rolling deck under your feet, the smell of salt in the air, it felt like home. Although flying in a spitfire over England during the Battle of Briton must have been exiting. But one thing is for sure, I would never go into the infantry. The mud and the cold the bombs and the primitive conditions, I respect all the guys that served in that branch of the military. I interviewed a infantry man who didn't take his uniform off from landing at D-Day until three months latter. Now that is commitment. Those men had it tough.

After we docked in Saint John, I drove the Blue Bomber to a side street in town to see if my remote Internet would get a signal. I got onto the Internet and proceeded to check my email. I had not been able to get onto the net for a week or so. I had over one hundred messages. I tried to answer them all. I received many letters of a-job-well-done, which is very encouraging.

I drove over to the Lancaster Legion in Saint John. I walked in and got a enthusiastic welcome. Everybody had seen the live at five interview that aired last week on CTV in Halifax about our organization. I heard about a dance that night for the big hall upstairs this night. I asked if I could offer some T-shirts for donations during the dance. Wayne, the manager didn't seem to have a problem with it, so I set up a little display.

I had a chance to give a little speech at the dance. I told the crowd of my trip and of my sponsor, without whom this trip would have never taken place. The Van Dyke family of Journey's by Gerry Van Dyke of Cambridge Ontario are great citizens of Canada. The evening went very well with the donation coming in. I talked with the cute bartender all night, but she is married, so I guess I'm still available Ladies. I turned in about mid night.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=66
Rainy day hunt for a Dispatch Bike.

I had heard of a old Dispatch bike in the back of an old trailer in a place called Canning NS from a big guy the day before at the Worf Rat Rally while I was manning the booth. His name was Blaine. So I started out for Canning NS at about 7am.this day. The day was very gray and cloudy. But I was on a mission to see if I could find this old Triumph dispatch bike that Blaine seemed to thing was still in the back of this old trailer on a abandoned piece of land. I said to him the day before are you sure its still there he said “nothing changes much around here” so with that I was on the road.

Well wouldn't you know it, the rain started about a half hour into this two hour ride {one way}and I got a little wet. The weather had been s—t this year and why should today been any different. So I stopped for a cup of tea and talked with a couple of locals at the gas station. The rain seemed to be slowing down so I headed out. Canning was about 10 klicks down the road from the gas station, so it wasn't long before I was in town. I stopped at the corner store for directions and the lady told me that I had pasted the place I was looking for {that figured}. I went back to the street that Blaine had described to me as a dirt road( I knew I was in trouble because the road is now paved) and started knocking on doors. The first guy I talked to was at the rendering plant. This place stunk bad. I had trouble standing inside the door talking to this man. But he confirmed that I was in the right area. So I went to the next house on the road and asked the young man who answered the door if he knew of an old trailer in the area, he said no and he also told me that the road out front of his house had been paved for at least seven years. So I asked him if I could take a look in the back 40. I rode my bike back into the field, for those of you who have not seen my bike it is a show bike with a five thousand dollar paint job on it. As my friend Mel Fisher says drive it like you own it. Remember that the ground is wet, I got into the field as far as I dared and decided that I should turn around. I thought to myself if I get stuck back here I'm in trouble, then I thought of Harry our VP dispatch rider from WW2, he must have seen lots of days like this. He rode though the mud and rain from Italy to Holland but there was one big difference, no one was shooting at me.

I made it back to the road with a little fish tailing on my way out. So I went to the next house, it turned out that the lady was the daughter-in-law of the guy who owns the rendering plant. I thought, that is why they can live so close to the honorable smell, they own it. So I went to his house and he didn't know anything about the bike. But I had the name that Blaine had given me, I told him the name and he gave me an address of the family. So I went there, very nice people but no bike. They gave me the location of another family member that may know something, so off I go to his place. By the way the family invited me in for a cup of tea. So I'm off to the next house, he didn't know anything about a bike but he had a name of another family member that may know something about the wayward dispatch bike. So I head over to his house, nobody home. I went next door to see if he knew the man beside him, he told me that the guy had just left. So he called his Dad to see if he knew anything about this dispatch bike, he didn't. We exchanged phone numbers, just in case. A couple of times that day I thought I would get lucky put it was not to be. I wanted to surprise Harry with an old bike that he could ride in parades and to special events but it was not to be this day, maybe soon.

I started back to Digby from Canning and wouldn't you know it , RAIN all the way back. I arrived to find that I had missed an appointment that Sue had set up and the day was over at the Rally. It was all OK because the ride had taken a round out of me and I was beat. Before I had a little nap I watched some old Red Skelton shows on disk. Let me say this don't go back and watch old shows that you liked in the past, let the memories stay the way you remember them. I made my entries and hit the sack.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=65
There's a reason for everything.

The weekend had slowed down quite a bit on this Sunday morning. The day started out kind of gray and damp I arrived at the booth about 9 am and took up my post. It was slow to start but it picked up when the sun came out. Sue Baxter-White came in at noon so I could go to Bear River for Three interviews she had pre-arranged.

I don't know what I would do without volunteers like Sue, she has set up interviews with local veterans and relieved me at the booth so I could take a break for speeches and dinner. Thanks so much Sue you are one of the good ones.

The Interviews went great. But one in particular stands out in my mind. The man's name is Donald K Buckler. Don was a mid gunner on a Halifax that was shot down in WW2. He was captures and put through HELL. I wish I had a day to spend with Don because I could tell that this man had a lot more to say. I will be talking with Don again soon to have him fill in more of the blanks that we could not fit into one section. I then interviewed Robert Isles. Robert was in the Air force when he first signed up and then was transferred to th Army. He is a interesting man with a good sense of humor. The third man is named Max Barker Max had a little trouble remembering some things but turned out to be a good interview.
I was late getting back to relieve Sue but she knew what I was doing so she didn't mind.

I settled in for the rest of the day, and just as I was thinking of packing it in a big dude started a conversation with me about knowing where there may be an old army dispatch bike in a place called Canning NS. I got the directions from him and gave him a T-Shirt for the information. I got all excited about the possibility of finding an old DR bike to surprise our VP Harry Watts. Harry was a DR in WW2 and I thought if I could surprise him and bring home a old bike for him, it would make his day. So for all you young people out there, stick it out to the end you never know what will turn up.

I stayed until about ten, and headed back to the Blue Bomber for a early night because I wanted to be on the road to Canning at 7an to see if I could find this old bike that I was told about.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=64
Busy day at the Worf Rat Rally.

I set up early at the rally. The day was filled with many interesting people and lots of interest in the Friends of Veterans. Canada It's hard to describe the way east coast people are. I will just say that we are all lucky as Canadians to have a group of people on our east coast that represent us so well as a whole.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=63
Set up at the Worf Rat

In the morning I usually go to the Timmy's or the Micky D's because they have the cleanest washrooms. I rarely eat at the place but I will grab a tea. So I'm outside the Timmy's and I get talking to some of the locals outside the place. I was talking to a guy about my bike and he tells me that his dad Vaughan, is a veteran of WW2. As we are talking a guy pulls in with The Worf Rat on the side of his truck, before I could say anything the guy I was talking to said “that guys a thief” I didn't ask .I asked if that was Peter and he said “yes”, and I said I have to talk with him, the man I was talking to looked at me funny. I find if you get involved with local politic you will regret it, so I don't.

Peter was very nice and told me to set up at the cenitaph downtown right next to the show office. That was great because at some shows, being a charity we get a lousy spot. But not this time we would be set up right in the middle of things. I looked at where we would be and went to got the booth and set it up. When I was done I thought what the heck I mide as well set up shop. So I did. I spent the day there and talked to lots of people about the Friends of Veterans. Canada. I went up to the Blue Bomber about ten and turned in.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=62
Wednesday August 27, 2008.

Thursday August 28, 2008.

Arrived in Digby from Halifax.

I went to the legion in town and talked to the bartender about setting the Blue Bomber outside for a couple of days, she thought that it would be OK. I set up and took the bike off and set out for a look see in the big town of Digby. Digby is a quaint little town on the shore of the ocean that was about to have 40,000+ big burly bikers roll into town, at least that is what some of the towns people thing. You know there is an impression of “Bikers” that some people have. If you think about it there is an very small element of bikers in the motorcycling world, and I do mean small ( they call themselves 1%er's but in truth they are less than one tenth of that) that are involved in less than legal activities. That small percentage of people ruin it for everyone else. Peter the organizer of the rally said that the town was concerned about this when he was doing the first Worf Rat Rally, but after the towns politicians seen first hand that motorcyclists are their brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers and all just regular folks, the rally was a go. This years rally is the forth, and I hope, the best so far.
I rode around town for a wile and decided that I should go back to the Blue bomber and make my Log Entries for the day and turn in. I need my rest because I will be standing for 12 to 15 hours at the booth for the next few day's]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=61
Show Time!

This day started with rain. That seems like the norm this year. I went to the CTV studio for the live broadcast to be aired at 8:12 east coast time. I met the camera-person in a small back room at the studio. You would think that there would be a big broadcast centre, but this room was very small and dank. The camera-person put in my ear piece and the producer from Toronto did a sound check for the broadcast. I don't know if people out there know how the news business is in the big city but as a subject of an interview you are alloted a curtain amount of time on air. Keep in mind I can hear in my ear piece the guy being interviewed before my interview. He is talking about American politics, he is going on and on and He is cutting into my time. I keep looking at the clock and this person is talking and talking about nothing. So it comes time for my segment and the A-hole before me used about 2 minutes of my 4 minute time slot. I wanted to mention my gas Sponsor, Journey's By Gerry Van Dyke from Cambridge Ontario, but all I could talk about was a overview of our charity. I managed to get in a good line about my son. The Commentator asked me how I felt about the possibility of my son joining officer training and the possibility of him going to Afghanistan. My answer was “I trust that the Canadian government make the right decision with my son's life”, I hope that the audience out there got the message. I thought about what I said and how can we trust a government that got us into this mess in the first place.

We rapped up the interview with me almost begging for donations. I will do what is necessary to make a success of this mission even if it means swallowing my pride.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=60
Back down to the bus station.

I have been waiting for a shipment of T-shirt from my good friend in London named John Bentley. I don't know what I would do without friends like John. He has been a great help with both getting me the shirts to taking care of the apartments that he lives in..]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=59
Fund raiser in the sun, finally.

Today is sunny, at long last. I set up out front of the Vimy Legion for the fund raiser. Ducky showed up shortly after I got set up and he got the BBQ ready. The day started out slow with lots of people checking my booth out but the only people that donated $20. for a free shirt were legion members and the guy next door who let me plug into his house. I gave him a shirt for giving me power for the RV. The guy 's Mum bought a shirt, so for the day I received $80. in donations. I spent the time wisely, I used the time to catch up on my log book. I stayed out there until 7:30pm. I wonder what we have to do to raise money, this day was advertised on the news and no one showed up. I have talked to lots of Veterans on this trip and they must feel, as I do that the veterans have been getting the dirty end of the stick for years. I hope our mission of gathering videos of our veterans stories will change that fact]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=58
Email from Ryan Anderson from Canada AM.

The day started with completing the gathering of the materials for the six signs that we need. I got on the bike and headed over to Dartmouth NS. The vinyl was being done at FXViynl. The owner there gave us a good price to cut what we needed. The day is sunny for a change. I have a hard time getting used to paying tolls. As I crossed the bridge into Dartmouth and paid the toll to go over and after picking up all of the materials for the signs, and then paid to get back over less than an hour latter. Something is not right about having to go to another city that you can see to do business and have to pay a toll. Oh well thats the reality no the east coast.

I made six nice signs for the fund raiser at the legion on Saturday. I made the signs up out front of the legion on a table that I set up on this sunny day.
After finishing up the signs, I got to work going though my footage to find something that CTV can use for there segment on our charity. I had an appointment set up by Ryan in Toronto to go into the editing room this afternoon. So I started reviewing all the tapes. It dawned on me as I was going though the tapes I thought to myself, boy, I thought I would have more footage.

I have been interviewing many veterans and it seems like I should have more. But I guess all filmmakers feel the same way. Anyway I got a few clips together and headed over to the CTV broadcast centre in Halifax. I met with the editor and we decided, after about a half an hour, that I would come back at 9:30pm and we could take a little more time to pick the clips we would use for the show on Monday morning and for the Live at 5 news broadcasts. I went back to the CTV office at 9:30 and I had cued up the tapes of our vets to be transfered quickly. We were done in no time and I went back to the Blue Bomber for an early night.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=57
CTV Live Five Filming.

Today started with a call from CTV to make sure our schedule's are on the same page. We set a time of 10am for the filming of our segment to be aired on Monday August 25th for the news program is called Live at 5. I called my navy vet, John Cortes, to tell him of the tapping and he said that he would be there. In the mean time I called a couple of sign places to see if I could get there best price on cutting some vinyl for a couple of signs that we need. I called a couple of places and finally got in touch with owner of a place called VinylFX in Dartmouth. He agreed to cut the vinyl I needed to make six signs. I have a little sign cutter at home that we use to make up any signage that the charity needs, so I know how to lay up signs. I got a price of forty bucks to cut the vinyl from FXvinyl in Dartmouth NS. Then I called Nd Graphics for a price on a piece of sign board. They quoted me a price of fourteen bucks for one piece of 4x8 sheet. So for just under sixty dollars I can make six signs for the F.O.V. Any way that we can save money for this mission, I will try to do it.

As I was finishing the email to the sign company, of what I wanted on the signs it was time to film the segment for Live at 5. I met the host and the camera operator, we did a walk through of where we will be shooting the segment. I introduced James Cotes, our veteran subject for the segment to the host. The host asked if she could start with a few questions of our veteran and myself. After we finished with the filler spots the host had a few questions for the ex-president of the Legion and some of the Legion goers. I started my interview with Jim as the camera person filmed us. I had a great interview with Jim, he started as an ordinary seamen and ended up 25 years latter as a leftenant Commander in the Canadian Navy, quite a story. I found that a lot of veterans are not part of a Legion. They don't drink or smoke and feel that they won't fit in at the Legion. This is a untapped segment of my veterans search. I will try to get connected with some of these vets outside the Legion.

When the segment shoot for CTV's live a 5 was over, the host told me that she could use some tape of our veterans that I had shot of the tour. I said that I didn't see a problem, and that I would try to find some appropriate footage for them to use.

After all the hubbub was over I got back to arranging getting the signage together for this weekends fund raiser. Ducky is the currant president of the Vimy Legion. I told him that we need to get some donations flowing in and I suggested setting up a table out front of the legion on Saturday. He said that would be OK. I hope that we have some people giving to our cause, because the bank account is getting low.
The staff at the Vimy Legion has been very helpful, with answering the phone and taking messages for me, plus putting up with me.

Late in the evening on this day I checked my e-mail and there is a note from CTV Toronto with Canada AM. I will call back tomorrow.

I turned in]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=56
Chronicle Story.

The day started with a trip to a copping place to laminate the Chronicle Herald Newspaper clipping from yesterday's paper. The article was pretty good. The picture was of me and my camera siting on my bike. The article explained about the tour so far and I got a number of e-mails following the story.
After getting back from the copy store I received a call from Liz from Live at five. We made arrangements to met at the Vimy Legion in Halifax to tape our segment. She wanted to film a veteran being interviewed for the library. I had an appointment with a navy vet named John Cortes set up for Thursday,. so I called him to see if he would mind being on the news, he said that he didn't see a problem with that.

After I had the next day set up I turned my attention to my computer problem. In my life I seem to meet the right people at the right time. Down the street from the Vimy legion there is a book shop, I thought that the owner my know of a computer repair shop close by that I could take my New lap top to because it fell onto the floor and the screen doesn't work any more. He said that just around the corner there was a place that did repairs. I got on the bike and went to the place and went in. If first impressions were the end all and be all the ordinary customer may have turned around and left. But from my experience seeing as cluttered shop doesn't necessarily mean that the owner is a bad person it just means that he is to busy to clean up. There was a man in the back with a large red beard. I told him of my problem and he had a couple of suggestions and we talked about the tour. He seemed impressed so he was trying to help. I then found out that he was not the owner and that the owner was still not in. So I asked if I could use his Internet connection and he said, sure. As I was checking out Kijiji the owner walked in he looked a little puzzled about who this big dude was sitting at his computer. I introduced myself. You know how sometimes you know right away if you are going to get alone with someone right off the bat, well this was one of those moments. His name is Ken Porter of K-PC Ltee, a very talkative man with many good idea's, but it was red beard that came up with the idea to plug in a exterior monitor to my Lap top. Ken unplugged one of his monitors and plugged it into my lap top and low and behold it worked. Boy was I relieved. If you recall I had been given the lap top to replace my original one that I had brought from home. I have not been having the best of luck with electronics lately. Anyway red beard said that they didn't sell used monitor but there was a charity place around the corner called The Parker Street Furniture Bank. So after giving the guy's a free t-shirt I went looking for the place. When I got to the Parker Street Bank they were having a yard sale. I bought a couple of things and the owner came up to me and asked what I was up to and I filled him in and he offered me a free monitor, I dropped five bucks in the donation bin. I went upstairs to the electronics section and the young man up there showed me a monitor, we checked to see if it worked, it did and I was on my way.

When I got back to the Blue Bomber I started in, to catch up on my log book and my email's. When the hard drive ceased on my original computer I lost all my entries up to that ceased that I had not sent into our web master. I lost about ten days of entries and all my email contacts. I should have known better and back up all of my stuff but it was one of those things where I said that I would do it tomorrow and tomorrow never came. I learned my lesson, I am know learning to “back it up”
I got an email off to the rally at months end called the “Worf Rats Rally in Didby NS. I talked with Peter down there and got a spot for the weekend for the “Friends Of Veterans. We will be there with our t-shirts trying to raise donations, so come down and see us.

At ten O'clock PM, I received a email from The producer of Canada AM. He expressed an interest in The Friend of Veteran Awareness Tor and wanted to know if we would be interested in doing a segment on our cross country tour. I said yes. This national broadcast will help us spread the word on our “National Video-A-Veteran Contest. We are asking teachers and students to video tape the veterans that will be speaking at their schools during remembrance week. There will be a number of veterans with stories to tell. We feel that this is a great opportunity to to gather Veterans testimonials for the :”Online Veterans Video Library”.

After a day of catch up, I turned in]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=55 CBC interview,105.7 On air interview. Chronicle interview]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=54
CBC Radio 1 Interview

Set up at the Vimy Legion in Halifax after talking to the producer of the morning radio show on Sunday. We had made arrangements to be on at 7:00 am. I started driving at 5:00 am to make the radio show on time. I got setup at the Vimy Legion and headed over to the CBC. I was on the air for about 2 minutes. I never get in everything I want the public to know, but I got a number of e-mails after the show.

I couldn't do any computer work so I started for the waterfront in Halifax to put some money in a buddies bank account that is sending me some more t-shirts from London. As I was waiting for the bank to open I got a call from another radio station call 95.7 news for an interview. We talked for 10 minutes or so. Then I walked up to the bank and made the deposit for the shipping of the shirts via the bus.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=53
Today is the day that I take the bike back to Moncton to see if I can have the Pioneers have a look at my computer, hopefully they will know how to fix it.
Sunday August 17, 2008.

I spent the day wondering how I would make my log entries. You see I didn't put my computer away properly and it fell on the floor as I was driving and the screen is kaput. Without my computer I am not able to make entries or check my email's.

I felt as if I was not filling my duty's to the charity by not being able to work. I have a plan to ride back up to Moncton and see the Pioneers to see if they could fix my computer. So I watched the Olympics.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=52
Leaving PEI



The day started with breakfast with Louis and Frances. On this morning we, to my surprise, no sting beans. We had a good breakfast and we finished up with a video shoot were the two brothers gad a chance to talk about the two brothers that they lost in WW2. Walter was in the army and was killed in France. He was o guard duty and was attacked and was shot in the head. As Louis told the story he made a point of saying that Walter died instantly. James was killed in the same plane as Harold La Pointe was wounded in. If you recall from another entry, Harold is my old scout leader that was a big influence in my life and one of the men that inspired the “Online Veterans Video Library”. James was a gunner on the Halifax that Harold was also a gunner. Harold was the only surviver of the seven man crew. Harold introduced me to the brothers Louis and Francis in London Ontario.

After the shoot Louis and Francis Lead me to the ferry over the Northumberland Straight. We said our goodbyes and I drove the Blue Bomber onto the ferry.

This is my first time on the ferry and on the ocean. What a great experience. I stood on the upper deck and enjoyed the voyage. I met a man on board that was in the peace time navy. We had an interesting conversation and he gave me some pointers on were to go in Halifax. As we pull into the dock I was the last one on the upper deck. I didn't want the crossing to be over. I hurried down the the RV and got her started for the disembarkation. As we got onto the highway I had a smile on my face because the day was sunny, for a change and I was on my way into NS.
My first stop was Pictou NS. I stooped at the legion and got two interviews. The first was a man that played hockey for the army during WW2. The second man was a Korea war vet who had some good stories of combat. After taking a few pictures I headed for my next stop.

I arrived in New Glasgow around noon and met the president and the executive officer. They let me sell a couple of shirts and I walked out of there with 160 bucks, not bad for a short stop. From there I started down the highway to a small legion in Westville. I met the bartender and she showed me around. But no donations for t-shirts there.
I stayed the night in Truro at he legion. I was there about ten minutes when I gave away a shirt for an interview with a guy who was in the arm in 44 or 45. Then I hit gold, I met Charles McLean. Charles is one of the most inspirational men I have ever met. He is a ma tee man on a life mission to be a good Canadian. He served in Korea and rouse up the ranks very quickly and fought in Korea. He stayed in the army for a while and then spent some time in the Navy. Then after the CF he became a chartered accountant. He lost his first wife and remarried a great gale. He is very active in the Legion, to the point of taking a shot just to march in a parade. Quite a man.

After walking back to the RV with Chinese food ,that I got ripped off for, I turned in for the night.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=51
Start up promo for Halifax.

I arrived at the Calais Legion in Lower Sackville about 11am after doing a fallow up, interview with Mr. McLean.

After arriving at the Calais Legion I went upstairs and talked to the guy's and made arrangements to park the blue Bomber for a couple of nights, they let me plug in at the spaces that they had for RV's. It was great to be able to call the media from the legion because my cell phone bill is very high. Every time I make a call, Rogers charges me long distance charges from my home in London and long distance back to were ever I am, not cheap. Anyway I stayed for two nights and didn't get a single donation but I got a couple of interviews that were good ones.

I didn't have a computer to do my entries in the log book so I watched the Olympics on CBC sports. I hate having work to do and no way to do it. So I hit the hay.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=50 http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=49 http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=48
This morning has started as most of the mornings on this tour...RAIN.

I don't know what is going on with the weather this year but it is getting pretty old. I had been in contact with two friends of mine that I had met in London in May 2006 at a ceremony of remembrance of their fallen Brother James McDonald. I met the two brothers by the name of Lewis and Frances McDonald through my old scout leader named Harold La Pointe, you may recall Harold is the first veterans that I made a video recording of and that he was my old scout leader that was a influence in my young life. I call Lewis and Frances around ten o'clock and made arrangements to come into town and lead me and the Blue Bomber out to their home were I would spend a couple of days before I would take the Ferry to NS. I arranged for a donation from Northumberland Ferry's for the crossing the day before, They were very helpful and the donation will save a lot of the charities sort supply of money.

The brothers arrived at about 11am and Francis got into the Blue Bomber and I started it up, while we waited for the RV to warm up an elderly gentlemen approached the RV, I dismounted the RV and greeted the man. He said “I want shake your hand and tell you that you are doing a great job” I said thank you and asked him his name he said my name is James Ward. So I asked if we could do an interview, he agreed. So then I asked Lewis and Francis if they would mind if I did an interview before we left they said “of course”. So we went inside the #1 BR. of the legion in Charlottetown and set up for an interview. As we went along James told me that he was a photographer in the Navy and that he served on all three of our aircraft carriers. I asked if he would be interested in sharing some of his photo's, he said yes so we set up a time to meet he next day and finish the interview. I picked up and said good bye to everyone at the legion.

Frances got into the RV and Lewis lead the way out to the homestead. When we got the RV parked Lewis and Francis and I set out on a tour of their part of the Island and we had a good lunch on the way to the monument that their two fallen Brothers were enshrined on out front of the legion in ____Bay. After a couple of hours we ended up back at their home for dinner and lots of good conversation. They let me use the phone to call Harold up in London were he is visiting our good friend Nancy. Roberts She is a warm hearted gal from London were Harold spends his time when he is in London. She is a good friend to Harold, the brothers and myself. We had a good conversation with Harold who has, as I'm finding out has lots of stories that I have not heard yet. I must record the spaces in his story soon..I also had a chance to talk to John Bentley, John is a close friend and is a great help to me back in London. He is taking care of my cat Brutus and arranging to get more s-shirt printed for the FOV. I also talked with our VP Harry Watts, Harry is taking care of the funds for our gas through a generous company who appreciate the mission we are on and without the help of Vandyke travel we would have a hard time continuing our mission. I really like talking to Harry, every time I get off the phone with him I feel a new burst of adrenaline to carry on. The brothers and I talked a little more that night and listened to some fiddle music then I turned in for the night.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=47
CBC interview

It was a great day for the F.O.V. Today. I spent the day at the Charlottetown CBC office recording a radio interview and a spot on the six o'clock news. Everyone was a great help to me. You see my Sony Cam corder when south on me just when I needed to let the CBC use some of my footage. The radio producer, Pat got the phone number out of his files of a man named Bill who may be able to help with my Cam corder problem. Bob lives outside of town about 5 km's. So I headed back to the Blue Bomber to change into my rain suit because its raining, again. When I got to Bill's place I met a man in his eighties answered the door, who was a navigator on a Mosquito aircraft during WW2. I asked him for an interview but then I realized that my cam corder was not working. So we went down to the basement and low a behold Bill had an entire editing suite in his house, Keep in mind that we are in the middle of the country on the island of PEI and I meet a guy with what seems like a TV studio in his basement. It turns out that Bill has been in the business for some time..If anyone can help me, Bill is the man. After a while we came to the conclusion that I may have to buy a new camera, but the problem is that We have no money for a new camera. Well you can Imagen the thoughts going through my head. What to do, what to do? Then the phone rang, it was the CBC they needed me at the studio for some additional shots of my bike before the evening news at six, this was 4:00. We tried the camera one more time with the help of a friend of bills that came over to help, To my great releaf the camera started to work so I quickly packed up and burned rubber to the CBC studio. When I got there I went straight to Pat's deck and started the cam corder and guess what, the camera was doing the same thing as before. We could not use my videos for the broadcast.. So I headed to to lobby to see if I could clean my camera and salvage all the work I have do to date. I cannot express the feelings I was having, have I let everyone down form Harry to our sponsor , Van Dyke Travel who gave us our gas money. I was cleaning the camera after taking the required shots with the CBC camera man for the news, when another CBC employee came up to me and gave me some advice on the proper cleaning of the heads on my camera. So I took his advice and cleaned the heads individually with a long q- tip and 99% pure alcohol, To my great relief the exercise worked and I was able to record my 6 minute segment on the CBC Maritime News. The interview was a good one with the commentator asking good questions. When I prepare for a an interview of this magnitude, I do not write down my answers ahead of time because I find that I can be a better subject if I play it by ear, off the cuff as it were, I am more entertain g and more apt to be asked to to another interview at another time

While on the island I met a couple of guy's in the movie business that may be interested in the documentary that I have in mind about the gathering of the video testimonials of our veterans, the “National Video-A-Veteran Contest” and the Trip to Holland and Belgium for the winners of the contest. There seem like a good bunch with some great idea's for funding, we'll see what comes from our meeting. I hope it works out because the message is so important.

I received a copy of the radio broadcast from the CBC for my records and I video ed my segment on the news. I have been told by a number of people that they had seen me on the news and others heard the radio broadcast. The coverage by all the media outlets in the tour so far have been very positive.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=46 Joe Foley.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=45 Moncton Times interview]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=44 Sniper view]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=43
It's got to get Better...and does.

Today started with plugging in the donated computer and trying it out on the Internet and to check my email's. I still can't get over the generosity of the Pioneers, what a great group. I got cleaned up and set out across the street to the Veterans Heath Centre here in Moncton. I was met at the front door by the entertainment director for the centre named Andre Duguay. During our meeting yesterday Andre and I made arrangements to have the veterans that I was to interview, sign consent forms. This is standard procedure with most government installations.

Andre led the way down the halls in the centre to Bill Hubley room. Bill is a veteran of WW2. He served in a recon unit with the Duke of York Hussars, signing up in Moncton in 1943. Bill is an energetic man with a good sense of humor. We hit it off straight away. I got set up right away because Bill started telling me stories as soon as I got into the room. Andre made sure that Bill had his coffee heated up and we got started. Bill told me that the fun stared as soon as he got overseas. As the troop ship he was on entered the harbor in Scotland, all the men on board ran to one side of the ship because there was two Scottish ladies walking on the dock. After the ships captain pleaded for the men to level the load of the ship by not gathering on one side because the ship was listing badly. Bill is a big practical joker, as he told me and he thought that was funny, he laughed as he told me of the ship almost turning over in the harbor.
He told me of digging his slip trench in the dark one night and then realizing in the morning that he had
lots of leg room. After investigating further he found that he had dug his trench in a grave yard and as he put it, he had unexpected company.
On a more serious note Bill told me of a friendly fire incident that almost cost him his life. He was on a re con mission in France after landing on D+10. When a RAF Spitfire strafed their potion. He told me something that I didn't know, he said that they had a yellow banner with them that was a signal to the pilot of the plane, to tell them that they were friendly. We talked about how many times that our troops were involved in friendly fire accidents, he called them Boo-Boo's.

He signed up for the occupation army after Germany surrendered. He married a Dutch girl but it didn't work out. Bill worked as a bus driver for 37 years and had a good life, so far. We met later that day and had a beer together and I took some stills.

My second interview of the day was a man named Ivan Killam. Ivan was very open and we started talking about his service and when we started he told me that he was in Canada until 1944 and he thought that he didn't have much to tell me, boy was he wrong. Ivan was an infantry replacement, that ended up with he North Shore Regiment. For those of you who don't know, the North Shore Regiment was a tough bunch or fighters who where one the first regiments to land at Juno beach.
Ivan joined them later and he told me of being close to the place that the infamous Kurt Myer was being held. Ivan had some good stories about his time during the occupation. He was ordered to run the post office for his area. The post office was a very important thing to our army. In those day's a letter or especially a package from home was a special thing to the troops.
After our interview Ivan and I walked to the dinning room together and I think I made his day. We later that day took a couple of stills and said good-bye.
I would like to let everyone know out there that people like Andre and people like him make the last years of the lives of our veterans meaningful. Good show Andre.

I made the walk back across the street to the Blue Bomber to start the task of replacing all of the entries of my log from July 27 to August 8th because when my old computer gave up the ghost I lost everything from my log to a record of my e-mails for the last two years. This is a lesson learned, back up everything.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=42
Is there karma?

Another day of rain today and I'm stuck in this RV. No interviews lined up so I decided to call every media outlet in town a call and give them the low down. I called the talk radio station in Moncton. The reporter took my statement. I didn't know that she was recording our conversation until she asked me at the end of our talk if she could use it on the air. I agreed. The night before I met Mr. Al Johnston, he was sitting and listening to me tell a veteran, who I was sitting with, about my computer problems. Johnston gave me the name of a charity group of retirees that recondition computers for schools. He said if anyone could help me, they would. These volunteers call themselves the Pioneers. I was told that they only work twice a week and that Thursday was the only time that I could get in to see them, Anyway I waited until 6pm to go to the shop that Johnston gave me directions to the day before. If you have been following my log you know that if I can get lost, I will. So I found the place after a lovely trip around greater Moncton. I walked through a shop toward the sound of voices in a back room. Now all of you people out there that haven't seen my picture on our web site, I am a 6 foot 2 inch, 280 pound, bald, bearded biker looking fellow. So you can Imagen what was going through their minds of the senior citizen volunteers working away in a place where someone that looks like me shouldn't know about.
I said I'm looking for Bob and a smaller statued man piped up in a confidant voice and says “I'm in trouble now” so I told them what the situation was. Right away they started trying to fix my sick computer. It had turned out one of the guys had seen my picture in the paper and everything was cool. One of the other guys had been in the CF until he retired. They surprised the heck out of me when they told me my computer was done. They blew me away when they donated a better lap top than the one I had for the cause. Every time, on this tour when something goes wrong there is someone there to help. I'm convinced that our mission is meant to be because we have had some difficulties on this tour but we always find the light at the end of the tunnel. Oh, I got lost on my way back to the Legion were the RV is parked.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=41
Brothers.....

I wake up early and went downstairs for breakfast, we had a good meal of ham and eggs. Then Bob and I started his interview. We started with his time in the war. The topic of being with his brother in the war was a touchy area and I changed the subject to what he has done since he got back from overseas.. After we were done I thanked his wife and him for their hospitality and I set out for Sussex NB for the home of Gorden Bickerton, Gord was a driver in the 8th Hussar's. He was trained as a tank gunner but as it so often happens in the army the job you were trained for wasn't the job that you got. Gord was a Driver for a Brigadier General for the war and he got to stay in pretty posh digs. He never seen action but he got to see the better side of the war. He had some interesting stories.
I then made a stop at the Sussex Veterans Unit called the Kiwanis Nursing home to talk to Joseph Walsh, Joe was a tank gunner with Canadian Grenadier Guard. He got into the war late in 1944. He went though a couple of large tank battle on the way to Germany He was at the Hawkwald gap. He still talks favorably about his commanding officer named Ned Amy. He told me of a time during the battle when he noticed out of the corner of his eye a officer walking down the road as proud as you please as the battle was going on. It was Amy, “is this tank operational” he asked they said yes sir and Amy made the tank the command tank. He carried on as if nothing was wrong. Joe found out later that Amy's tank was damaged so he had to bail out and find another ride, so he did. Joe told me that , although he was not involved, his group was the group that killed a German tank commander named Vitman. Vitman was an ace with 143 kills and some time at the Russian front. Joe was proud to be a part or the regiment that killed that guy.
Joe was also at the battle of Whinnathal. Where his regiment crossed the Rhine on a boat bridge. A boat bridge was just as it sounds a bridge made of specially designed boats that could be lined up side by side and by placing planks over the bridge you could move heavy equipment across it one at a time.
Joe was married and had 5 kids and is a happy man. The conditions at the hospital are good put when you watch his video you mite hear a man snoring in the next bed. I give a free t-shirt or a copy of Harry's book “the Dispatch Rider: to all the veterans that I interview for free but Joe insisted that he make a donation of $50., I said no but he insisted. Every little bit counts.
I bid farewell to Joe and thanked him for his donation and set out for Moncton.
I arrived in Moncton at about 4:30 and went into the Legion. I talked to Gloria and she said it was OK the plug the Blue Bomber into the back wall, so I did. I unloaded the Harley and set out for a look around.
I tried to plug in my computer upon my return and it made a strange sound, something like a tape tightening up and then it quit. This is a major problem because all of my contact information is on my computer. My log book entries. Email records, everything. Not a good situation. So I went into the Legion to see if anyone knew of a computer guy that would work cheap because we are at the end of our money in the charities bank account. I sat down with a couple of people in the Legion. I had met a veteran earlier so I sat with him. The other people at the table I had not yet met. One of those people was Al Johnston, Al works as a volunteer with a group called ”The Pioneers”. He gave me a name and a location with directions and told me to see them maybe they could help. So I went back to the RV and packed it in for the night.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=40
A few good men.

Today was the day that I was to be on CBC. But we had our spot pulled because they didn't have the tape transferring capabilities at their Saint John radio station and the story was still hot about the head. So I had the opportunity to address a group of local Seniors who where meeting at the Legion that morning. I didn't know it at the time but after the meeting I would have the chance to meet a great veteran. His name is Bob Jones.
I went out to the Blue Bomber and packed her up and got ready for the trip to Moncton. I went back inside when the meeting was breaking up and a couple of veterans approached me, one of which was named Bob Jones. Bob invited me to his home for an interview. I thought the stop would be short and sweat but when I got there I would find out that this tour stop would be very meaningful. I said my good-byes to the staff at the legion and I was on my way. Wayne Carlton, #69's manager led me out of town. I got to Hampton NB about five o'clock and found Bob' house. I wasn't in the house five minutes when he offered me dinner and a bed for the night. I had another appointment in Sussex with a tank gunner that day but it was getting late so I decided to stay the night in Hampton. Bob and I went to the Hampton Veterans cenotaph. Bob and his wife raised the money for the cenotaph by sending letters out to people they know in the area, As we walked toward the cenotaph Bob was explaining the history of the veterans in the area. We stood in front, for a minute without taking, the day was sunny , for a change we have been having an unusually wet summer. Bob told me of the artist that came up with the design of the open cross but it wasn't tall enough so bob came up with the idea of a larger pedestal to make the overall hight at ten feet. This cenotaph is very unique and worth a stop if you are close to Hampton. Bob and his wife took me out to dinner that evening at the local restaurant. We went back to the house and met with a teacher that lives across the street, His class wrote a book on the First world war called Hampton Remembers. This book was written by students and is very well done. I had a good conversation with the history teacher of the class.
Bob and I hit it off right away, he asked me if I drank wine, I said yes, he said red or white and I said red or white he said yes anyway we had a glass of white wine and started to talk about his accomplishments in life. He is a interesting man, he told me that he had a grade 8 education. He has been the head of different labor organizations and the head man at the workers comp board. Since his retirement he has helped veterans and there widows get the benefits that they rightfully deserve. We talked about his time in the army as a stretcher barrier, We didn't get into the nitty gritty put he did tell me some good stories, some a can't repeat. Around 12 o'clock he showed me his pride and joy, his fishing room. Bob is a avid fishermen with a big collection of reels and rods both old and new. Bob and his wife gave me the first real bed to sleep in that I had seen in 45 days. It didn't take me long to fall asleep.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=39
Long weekend blues.

Met with two war brides today. The first was a Scoots lady named Helen McKelvie-Cook. The second Gal is named Gwendoline Beaiteay she is from England. What a great pare of interviews on this cloudy
Monday, I spent the first Interview at Helen's house. She is a typical Scottish land with a great sense of humor. She had some great stories about England and mostly of Scotland. I love the Scottish accent, I find myself talking with a Scottish accent after I hang around for a while. Anyway I met her son when he came in from boating. She had lost he veteran husband some time before, you could tell she missed him. I said good bye a little latter after a cup of tea of course.
I headed over to my next appointment with Gwen. She was glad to see me and I was glad to be there. He story was quite unique, She had met her husband in England when he was stationed over there. He has a touch of Alzheimer today and was resting. Her and I talked for a couple of hours and we hit it off. She was an entertainer during the war and me being a ham we got along great. She has been though a bunch of stuff in her life and I was glad to take down her story on video.
There are many stories of war brides coming to Canada. I have managed to get only a few so far, I am looking forward to hearing more.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=38
Recreation day.

I met with a couple of bikers today for a BBQ. I needed the day off. I did my laundry this morning crossed the toll bridge and hooked up my Internet and it worked for a change. After returning to the RV I made a call to the people I met over the last couple of days. Rabbit and his lady had invited me to a BBQ the day before. At the time I didn't know if I could attend. I am glad I did. The time away from everything was great. I do not drink and drive so I headed home shortly after dinner. I have met some good people in saint John. I may look at buying a house here in the future.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=37
Navy Man

The fallow up with Merrill Rumson.
Merrill and I hit it off pretty good in our last interview. Merrill gave me another interview on the inner workings of the Canadian Navy. This interviews lasted for about an hour and a half and we went over all kinds of Navy traditions and procedures. At the end of our last meeting we were looking at some pictures from back in the day, and I noticed a glass of liquid sitting on the table in front of Merrill at a function of some kind. So I said to him in a joking manner ”Hey what this, a little good time juice” he said “no that is Scotch” then he said “do you like Scotch. Keep in mind that this is 10:00 in the morning. He had the look on his face that if I didn't have a drink of Scotch with him he would be offended. So Merrill and I retired to the kitchen for a drink that day. He went to the cupboard and got a bottle of Johnny Walker Black, for those of you who don't know about Johnny Walker Black... well its the good stuff..We had a drink of this fine Scotch and I see him out of the corner of my eye watching me take a sip of scotch. That is the way I drink Scotch. He had a look of approval in his face, I said”what” he said ”you know how to drink good Scotch” He said that some of the people he has in just take it and down it. I said “Ya it's like giving steak to a dog, it mide as well be hamburger” he laughed and we finished or drink that day and went to the Lunch crew luncheon. On this day we had another drink of Scotch together and he let me have a shower at his place. For just meeting someone he was a very gracious man. It was an honor to meet him and to do an interview with him.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=36
CBC Canceled

“When It bleeds it leads“ You can't get ahead on a bus.

I got the word today that our story would be put off for a while on the CBC. The producer called me and said “I don't know if you heard about this story put a guy got his head cut off on a Greyhound bus”. I knew right then that our story would be bumped. Well that's the way the head rolls. This set us back a bit because I was looking forward to talking to a national audience about our National Video-A-Veteran Contest”. We will get together for another shot at our story when I get to Toronto, I hope.
When I made it to the Veterans wing at the Ridge wood Hospital all the staff knew what our mission was all about. The head nurse took me to a room off to the side of the front deck to do the interviews. I interviewed three people at the residence. All three were good interviews, I was done in about an hour. I headed back to the Legion to get ready for the nights activities. I was invited to a dance as the guest of honor. We had a great time but I was sleepy and I made an early night of It.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=35
Maxwell Walker and Merrill Rumson and lunch with the Ex Service Members Lunch Crew.

This day started with a call from CBC Toronto. The producer had heard about our tour and wanted to do a story on our tour, I thought that would be great. We Talked on the phone for an hour. I think she will put the Friends of Veterans. Canada , on air, we will see.
The story came out today in the Chronicle Herald. The reporter did a great job. He had a good picture and a well written article. The story was out and all the people seen it at the Legion, a good ice breaker in a new target city. We target larger cities because they are usually the media centres of the area.
I had an appointment with a 95 year old navy man named Merrill Rumson. Merrill was in the navy most of his life including WW2. When I sat down with him he was all dressed up, I was flattered that he would get cleaned up for me. He set me straight when I complemented the way he looked and he said, in a matter a fact way, “ I always dress like this” I felt like an idiot. Not the first time and more that likely not the last.
The interview was two hours long but he kept asking me to turn of the camera. You see, this is a proud man and if he had to go around a petty officer to get a job done in 1943, he didn't want it to come out know and besmirch his spotless record. I ended up with about eight minutes of tape in a two hour video. But I learned a lot about the Canadian Navy. It was getting close to lunch time and the Veterans Luncheon. It turned out that Merrill is a member. So we headed down to the Pub for lunch. There was a bunch of veterans there and I lined up some interviews.
When the luncheon was over we met back at the legion. I talked to Maxwell Walker and Will Sonners about sitting down with me for an interview. Maxwell was in the army in WW 2 and Will was in Korea. Max's interview was very good , he has great recall. We talk about his long career in the army, you see after the war he made a career out of the army. He started in 1942 and ended his military career in 1968, from Naples to Holland in WW2 to working on the Alaska Highway, Max has been around in the Canadian Army.
Will Sonners is quite a man, he signed up in July of 1948. He was in the 1st battalion in the PPCLI. He went to Pouson Korea in March of 1952. He seen lots of action and he talked about all the battles he was in. He talked about Hill 355 he said that the Korean army would blow bugles and scream as they charged. I asked him if he was intimidated by that, he said “of course I was” he looked at me as if I should have known that. He told me that he had been wounded in the left arm and the left forearm after a battle that lasted from 11 PM the night to before 6am the next morning. He woke up on the hood of a jeep on a stretcher. I talked about being in the Special forces and training in the U,S, with the Rangers. He told me that the Canadians made a great account of themselves during the training. While training with the Yanks he told me that they were surprised about how good shape the Canadians were. Will has a great sense of humor and seems like a good family man.
After the interviews were over the manager of the Legion named Wayne Carlton took me on a tour of Saint John. We drove around for a couple of hours checking out the city. He showed me the Veterans unit at the hospital called Ridge wood, that I had set up three interviews for the next day. By the time the tour was over I was ready to head back to the RV to make my log entries and turn in.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=34
Good-bye Fredericton, hello Saint John.


This day started with the drive to Saint John. I stopped at Gagetown for a look see. I drove around the base taking pictures and getting some strange looks. But nobody said anything so I kept taking pictures. As usual I took a wrong turn and as I was leaving the base and drove the wrong way for about five Km's. I got back on the highway for the trip to Saint John. As I was driving I had a little tape left over so I decided to make a little segment on the trip so far. I found that enjoyable. But I must polish my on camera skills.
When I arrived in Saint John I started looking for my first Legion stop. I found out that in Saint John they have a toll bridge, my first. I paid the toll and set out across to downtown Saint John. I had a little trouble finding the Legion, but eventually I found it and it was closed for good. I called command and apparently the branch was closed because of a mismanagement issue. As I was going to the next Legion on my list I pasted the Saint John Chronicle Herald office. So I stooped in and asked to talk to someone in the newsroom. A young enthusiastic reporter came out to talk to me He turned out to be a bike enthusiast who also owns a very rare Norton, called a Highboy. We talked about his bike and some other bike stuff. He took down all of my information and gave me some contact names in the area.
I headed across the bridge and paid another toll. I asked the girl in the booth where the legion was, she gave me good directions and I found it. It was closed for the afternoon, so I headed for the next one. I pulled up in the parking lot and talked to the bartender. He said it was OK with him if I set up the blue bomber in the upper parking lot. After setting up, I went back into the Legion. I asked if I could join the table of people sitting in front of the bar. I latter found out that this table was called the B--- S--- table. I sat down and it felt like home.
I met a guy how was a vet of the peace time army named Jim Irving and a guy who was spent a number of years in the navy and then became a Montreal cop. The first guy invited me to a weekly meeting with a bunch of veterans that get together every Thursday at noon for lunch called “Ex Service Members Lunch Crew” In Saint John. He asked me if I was ever in the military, I said no and he said he would not hold that against me because in order to attend this luncheon you must have served in the military. But because of the mission that we are on, he said that I could attend.
Saint John is a great city. I met lots of great people on my first day in town.
When I latter went up the hill to the RV I found that I could not get on the Internet. The Rogers remote Internet does not work in small towns. But Saint John is not a small town so I must be in a dead zone. I will try again tomorrow.
It's time to hit the hay aHHHHHH. Good night.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=33
CBC at Chalmers Veterans Memorial.

Carl Patrick, Angus Fraser, Otto Eurt.
I contacted the CBC to let them know that the interview was a go and that we could go in there at 11am. I had met with an official at the hospital earlier that morning and got the approval that was required. As I pulled up to the veterans wing I noticed that the camera crew was waiting. They also had brought the Radio host for a local broadcast, which was no problem. The more coverage we get the better for the charity. After a quick production meeting we went inside and set up in the courtyard for the interview for the news both TV and radio. The young lady doing the interview was very professional and no dummy. It takes a little time to set up the camera so we had a chance to talk, the interviewer was just starting in the business, so we talked about her young career and about our tour of all the legions. After the sound check we started the interview. These interviews take about half an hour but they use two minutes of the interview. That is the nature of TV news, as my cab driver buddy, Cory Spring said, “get'em in get'em out get another one” that their attitude. .
When we were finished with the overview potion of the interview we made our way to my first veteran interview of the day. The man's name is Carl Patrick, Carl served in the coastal watch. At that time there was German sub sitings all along the east coast. Carl's job was as a wireless radio operator out of eastern command in Dartmouth. Carl was one of five brothers that were in WW2. His oldest brother was named Wes Patrick, he was a squadron leader in the Air force. His second oldest brother was name Edmond Patrick, he was shot down over Italy and was captured, then escaped, then walked out of Italy. The walk took 28 days. Carl's third brother was named Ken Patrick, he was in the Canadian Army Engineers. Then the forth brother living in Kitchener today is named Keith Patrick who was a radio gunner that had seen lots of combat in WW2. Carl seemed to think that his contribution was not as important as the ones made by his brothers. He seemed a little ashamed. I said to him that maybe the Canadian military did not want all five brothers overseas at the same time. Maybe the higher ups made the decision not to send him over, because if they all got killed who would take care of his parents. He thought about it for a minute and said ”I never thought of it like that ”. I think that made his day.
The CBC crew asked me to come outside to do some finishing shots of me getting off my bike and walking into the hospital for the evening news. So we did about ten minutes of different angles of me walking into the residence. We said our good-byes and I went in to finish up with Carl.
Next was Angus Fraser, Angus was in the army out of NB. His job was that of a Bren Gunner. He said “ I carried that thing all over Europe” he said it with a smile on his face.. He contracted TB and was sent over to England to a hospital there. After he recovered he was sent back to Caen after D-Day with another Regiment. It was hard to understand him but he had seen a lot of combat.
Next I had an unexpected interview with a man named Otto Eurt. As I was leaving, I ran into Otto heading out the front door to a dialysis appointment. So I asked him if he was a veteran, he said yes. So I asked him if he would sit down with me for an interview, Just like that I set up my camera and got started. We talked about his job as a mechanist close to the front lines. Otto job was to build a part out of steel to replace anything that was needed. Say a tank needed a part, if they didn't have it in stock he would make it from scratch.. Today we live in a throw away culture, but in the time of WW2 we fixed things. As I was doing the interview a lady came out of the residence and made us stop the interview because I didn't have permission to interview Otto. But she asked him if he could sign a release when he returned from his appointment and he said yes, so we finished up and I was on my way back to the Legion. When I arrived the local newspaper reporter and his photographer were waiting to do an story on the tour. I called Vaughan Boyne. I had asked Vaughan if he could come down and fill in the planks of the interview we had done a couple of days before and passably be in the article. I called him and he came down right away. The reporter asked him some questions and took some pictures. Vaughan seemed to be in his element, he handled the reporter like a pro. After the reporter asked me some questions he left. Vaughan and I started our interview with his time going ashore at D-Day. When I do a interview with a few veterans in a row sometimes we can't get into the story as much as I would like. That is why I thought it would be good to have Vaughan in again, boy was I right. Vaughan had seen a lot of action in Europe. He told me about an experience when he was in a field. One day he had seen a nun walking in the mist he ran up to her and asked if she needed help, she said she was alright. She told him to be careful that night, so he didn't sleep where he had planned. On that night the house that he was going to sleep in was bombed and destroyed. He asked his buddy latter about the nun and his buddy said that he was with him that hole day and he didn't see any nun. Vaughan said that he didn't know if that nun was there or not but it made him think. He had lots of great battle stories. For those of you who don't know some veterans will not talk about their time in battle so I considered my time with Vaughan Boyne very special. Vaughan and I finished our interview and parted ways. After interviewing Vaughan I remember why I am on this mission.
I went into the other room where a bunch of guy's where sitting around a table shooting the breeze, I joined them. It always happens just as I am scheduled to leave a town three or four people have all kinds of veterans that they want me to visit. I wish I had talked to them before hand but I took the names down just in case.
I went back to the RV and made my log entries for the day and turned in.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=32
Fredericton is a great town.

I had a good night at the dance last night at the legion, Saturday night. I made a couple of appointments for interviews and met some good people. Today started with more rain. There is something about rainy days, I usually like the rain but when you have as much rain as we have had lately it is kind of depressing. But I am a glass is half full guy and I always make the best of things, after I stop bitch'in about it.
After I did my fallow up interview with Chub Howard at Mary's Bake Shop in Perth-Andover, I called a like minded friend that I had met at the legion a couple nights before, Lou Sullivan. We hit it off, right off the bat when we met. He rides an American motorcycle as I do. We had a good conversation about bikes, work and his son who lives in the London. It was good to met a fellow bike enthusiast to talk about some good times.
I stopped in to see Lou and we had a look at my bike. My bike never leaks oil, but that day I was having a leaking problem. Lou had a look at it and he figured out that when I did an oil change I must have put a little to much oil in her. He took the breather apart and cleaned it up and reinstalled the breather hose and put it back together. He showed me his bike. It is a bored out Iron Head Sporty that he uses for burnout competitions. He started it up and it sounded pretty beefy. We said our good-byes and he invited me to a Labor Day BBQ at his place, I will try to make it. I headed back to the RV Fredericton.
I turned in latter than usual that night..
Mon..July 28, 2008.
Set up the spot with CBC
I have been in contact with the CBC to arrange a video segment for the local news at the Chalmers Veterans Unit. People always ask me how I get the news stations to cover our tour, I tell them that our mission is important to the kids of the future and that they remember what our veterans did for their freedom. I call the newspapers, radio stations and the TV news groups, they know a good cause when they see it. The CBC is a community news group and they are interested in our veterans. I stopped at the CBC office in Fredericton and the security guard said that the producer was in a production meeting and could not be disturbed, so I wrote her a little note on the back of one of my business cards. I told him that I would wait outside for a couple of minutes just in case she wanted to talk to me about our tour. Within one minute he was motioning to me to come inside and talk with her. I talked to the producer of the broadcast and made arrangement to met at the resistance. She wanted to film my interview with a veteran while he gave his testimonial. I agreed that we could do the interview as long as the hospital didn't have a problem with them filming in the residence. I called the residence and they said as long as the veteran approved. they would not have a problem. After finishing up at the CBC I headed back to the Blue Bomber for supper and an early night.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=31
Chub Howard

Bike repair]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=30
The push.

This day started with rain waking me up as it made that familiar sound on a steel roof. I had a 9 o’clock appointment with a local celebrity nick named Chub, so I got on my horse and headed to Mary’s Bake Shop for our meeting. When I arrived, the place was packed and I found Alex (Chub) Howard sitting at the biggest table in the place with all the good old boys from town. After a trip to the little boys room I sat down beside Chub. We all joked for awhile then got down to brass tacks.

Chub was in the 3rd field artillery 19th Battalion and after joining in February of ’42 he landed in Italy. He then headed up the Adriatic for more action, then France, Belgium and Holland. Chub is a good man and it was a pleasure interviewing him.

After competing our interview Chub and I parted ways. He went to take his wife to a hair appointment and I headed down the road to Fredericton.

I found the #4 Legion in no time and parked the Blue Bomber. I went upstairs and talked to the President Ardith Armstrong and 1st VP Jean Guy Perreauld and asked permission to set up a table at the Friday night dance. I told the two of them what we were all about and they thought that it was worth while for me to attend the event. I was grateful because we need the money. I ran over to the electronics store to pick up some more tapes for the Video-a- Veteran day that we are going to advertise at the dance tonight for Saturday afternoon. I have met some good people tonight.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=29
Perth Andover mission almost complete.

I had made arrangements to interview four veterans this morning at Richard (Dick) Jamer's home. I went to get gas before I headed over to his house because I was totally empty and luckily the New Brunswick Gov’t forced the gas suppliers to lower their prices. Finally a provincial government that is willing to stand up and require the gas companies to be fair, if you call $1.30 a liter fair. But I digress.

I showed up at Dicks house at 10 am as we arranged ( I know Harry, our veteran dispatch rider VP is laughing right now at that last sentence) and there was Dick and his wife of 62 years, Janet were waiting for me. Dick was in the Merchant Marine and he joined at the age of 18. As I was setting up my camera equipment the other three subjects showed up while the first to arrive was Milford Kinney. Milford signed up in 1940 in the Foresters, that was about the extent of Milford’s testimonial. Then I had the opportunity to interview two war bride’s. The first was Isobel Zoë Boone, an interesting lady who had a lot to say and donated $50. dollars at the end of our session. Then there was Margaret Jean Baird, a feisty Irish lady. I’ll bet she was a hand full in her time.

After the session was over Dick took me on a tour of his basement. I say basement but this room was a monument to the Jamer family. He had made up a picture wall that was arranged in order from the oldest to the youngest with all graduation pictures. Dick and his wife had some very prominent kids in the military, the business world, and as religious volunteers.

Dick let me have a shower in one of his three bathrooms, boy did that feel good. I also met his daughter that afternoon, she was a school teacher, so I took advantage of her knowledge about the school boards in NB. You see I would like to organize, during Veterans Week, a nation wide Video-a-Veterans week. I feel that if we could enrapt all teacher’s in Canada to video tape the veterans that come to their schools that week it would be a big boost to the cause and then send the video to the “Online Veterans Video Library” for a special section on the sight. She gave me some good advice that I will try to utilize.

Dick and his daughter led me over to my next interview of the day, Max Shaw. Max is very ill but graciously agreed to an interview. We were joined by his wife Francenna of over 60 years on the front porch. We had a short but sweet testimonial from Max with his wife filling in the planks. A very distinguished man with a great lady for a wife.

After the interviews I headed up to the Grocery store and one thing I noticed is that the prices for basic food stuffs in NB are quite a bit higher than Ontario. When I was going though the cash I found out that my credit card was maxed out and as it turns out that every time I fill up and use my card at the pump the gas company holds an additional $100. for insurance, whatever. Plus my insurance company made an mistake on a family members account which left the charity broke. I will not let this mission fail, so if I have to I will pitch in again. So far I have in over ten thousand dollars into this mission and keep in mind I am a working guy that has taken this time off of work to travel from coast to coast to gather our veterans stories and proud to do it. If you can help with a financial donation, that would be great.

I then headed back to the legion to use their phone to straighten out the card mess. I ended up sitting with some locals and having a good conversation. Later I met my first biker from NB who's name is Lewis Sullivan, he is a fellow Harley rider and had some great stories. It was good to talk to someone of my own ilk and it turned out that I had met his son who had resonantly moved to my home town of London Ontario. We both walked out to the parking lot and before we said our good-bye’s he invited me to a annual Labor Day bash at his house and insisted on feeding me. Little does he know that I don’t have fork marks in the back of my hands by being the last to get at the roast pig.

Before I turned in I got a call from Harry our VP. He assured me that our gas sponsor in Cambridge, Jerry’s Journey’s, will be cutting us a check for a total set amount for our fuel for the remainder of our tour this year. I hope they will see their way clear in helping us continue our tour next year. Cheers to the Van Dyke’s, if not for their donation this year the Veterans Video Awareness Tour would not be happening, thanks to Jerry and his family, a good bunch. During that same phone call from Harry he had mentioned that his sister had seen our news interview on CTV in Niagara Falls. Harry said that we were seen nation wide on CTV while I thought that the segment would be broadcast in the Ottawa area only, but we were national. COOL.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=28
Thoughts of home.

I am making this entry tonight sitting in the Blue Bomber outside the Perth-Andover Legion. I have bedded down for the night and have the run of the parking lot since everyone has gone home for the night. Outside there is a beautiful countryside with rolling hills and a crispness to the air. We have been having an unusually mild summer so far this year.

I am listening to the sound of the rope on the flagpole just outside my window gently tapping, tapping on the steel of the pole. The sound is somewhat like a bell making a unique tone and the sound makes me think of a bell tolling for the sacrifices of our Canadian fighting men. Ironically a gunshot is fired in the bush near by, probably a local hunter, just one shot… yes. How many times did a lonely Canadian soldier hear a gunshot or artillery round firing in distant night during WW2 or Korea and thought, what is my family doing right know, are my loved ones thinking of me? During that solitude they must be thinking as I am, I wish I were home. But as I know, the mission I am on is so very necessary and needless to say the little bit of anxiety that I am experiencing does not come close to what they must have been experiencing. Our soldiers past and present that have, or will be going by the wayside, can be comfortable in the thought that I am out here gathering their memories away from my home… alone and making this effort to pass on their stories. The tap tapping of my friend, the flagpole outside, will keep me company this eve and will stand in my memory as an evening to remember.



Well back to the log. This day started slow after getting out of bed late at 8am or so in Edmundston NB. I was worn out from the twelve hour drive from Ottawa and was in a Wal-Mart parking lot, so I decided to go in. I purchased some necessities and some things not so necessary, a lawn ornament in the shape of a pudgy pelican with his eyes looking as if he has just gotten away with something. He is pointing his index feather outward confidently gesturing. A worthy mascot and I have named him Clyde the Glide.

After getting directions from a helpful person I headed for the Edmundston Legion. The directions led me to a building with boards on the windows and the smell of smoke inside. The Legion had had a fire some time before and I did not find a note on the door indicating where they may have relocated. I asked next door if they knew anything of the whereabouts of the Legion, they had no idea. I tried the phone number I had on file and got no answer, that could have been because I was trying to call at eleven o’clock in the morning and they were not open. I am on somewhat of a schedule so I made the decision to come back to Edmundston on my way home and see if I can record some testimonials of local vets for the Online Veterans Video Library.

On my list of legions in NB I determined that the Grand Falls Legion was the next tour stop. As I was entering the town of Grand Falls I went across a bridge that spanned a great gorge with a massive waterfall at both ends, thus the name Grand Falls. I found a parking spot big enough to park the Blue Bomber. After parking, I got my stuff together for filming hoping that there would be some veterans inside that I could interview, after all I am showing up out of the blue. Well… as I am getting out of the RV, out of the corner of my eye I see a cute lady walking toward me with a apprehensive look on her face. It was Lena Levesque, the Legion pres and she was waiting to talk to me about setting up some interviewees, also to tell me that she was following my progress on the internet. That was flattering enough but as we crossed the street another lady had seen the Blue Bomber and ran home to get a copy of a short story that her father had written to give to me. I felt like a celebrity. The word is getting out about our mission, that makes me feel good. I just hope that we start getting some businesses to donate some money for we are going without to accomplish our goal. This mission is very large and we need to start a nation wide advertising campaign. We need to reach into every corner of our country and get our veterans stories, for the kids.

I taped three fantastic testimonials today. The first and most intense interview of the day was with Tom Cote and he was quick to point out that he was a Canadian who served with the Americans at the Aleutians. According to Tom he doesn’t think that many Canadians know of the sacrifices that he and his fellow Canadians made while serving in the Aleutians. I hope that his testimonial will enlighten everyone to the fact that Canadians where in the Aleutians and served honorably. Tom was my first Veteran that started to get very emotional during our interview and I asked him if he wanted to take a break and he said no and wanted to continue. I tried to handle the situation like a pro but it was hard to hold back my own emotions. We continued through it and had one of the most powerful testimonials to date.

The second interview of the day was with Clermont Rioux. Clem was in army from 43 to 45 and rode dispatch, which I did not find out until half way through the interview. Kind of funny considering that as a side project on the tour that I am making a documentary about Dispatch Riders. Clem’s interview was great, he is very sharp and knowledgeable.

The third Interview of the day was with one of our overlooked branches of service to our country, the merchant seamen of WW2. The mans name is Kenneth MacFaraland, Ken was very helpful in assisting me to understand what the job of Merchant Marine and an able bodied seamen was all about.

After giving a T-shirt to the men I interviewed, less one that Clem forgot of which I will get to him, I packed up my stuff and shook hands with a very helpful Sergeant at arms for the Upper Valley District by the name of Lloyd. I was on my way to my next tour stop the third of the day.

Lloyd called ahead and talked with Mavis, the bar manager at the Perth Andover Legion. Mavis made a couple of calls and rounded up four veterans for me to interview, so I headed to next stop. On my way down the highway I was snapping photo’s of the intense scenery and missed the turn off and ended up 45 minutes past where I should have been. I Called Mavis and asked if she could ask the veterans if we could make arrangements to interview them in the morning because by the time I drove back to the Legion it would be closed. She made arrangements for me to meet them at one of the veterans houses in the morning. No harm done.

I decided to drive back anyway with not too much fuel and as you might expect the Blue Bomber is a gas PIG. Anyway after a drive down the old trans Canada Hwy, known to the locals as “The old #2”, I made it to the Legion and I met a couple of Locals and had a couple of beverages. As I am typing this log I am getting weary and must get some sleep.

A great day.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=27
Smiths Falls DR.

Well I found Reg and set out to interview him about 9am from Ottawa. I rode the Harley down to see him and thought that he would get a charge out of seeing a big bike again but as it turns out he was riding up until last year on a big Honda. Reg is not a big man so he decided to give up riding, but he showed me pictures to prove it even though he didn’t need to prove anything to me. We had a good interview and covered a lot of ground. Reg has had a good life and has been married twice. We went though his army life as a dispatcher and a driver, pretty good stuff

I had another appointment at the Perley in Ottawa to do a follow up interview with Gord Donald. Gord spent a number of months in a prison camps at several different camps across Poland, Germany, and Czechoslovakia. Gord is the man that appeared with me on the CTV news broadcast a couple of days before and we talked for an hour or so, then he had to get his dinner. So I through my leg over my worthy stead and rode her back to the West’s homestead.

After arriving in Constance Bay. I made my entries into the log and hit the hay]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=26
The day started with a call to the Perley to set up a follow up with Gord Donald. I will keep trying and get the total story.

Kevin, Sharon, and Ken (Kevin’s dad) all went to a annual wake for a local biker named Fred. At the gathering I met Dan Dannels and its funny how the opportunities to gather testimonials fall into my lap since Dan served our country for over thirty years. He spent a year and a half in Korea and six months in Japan and then served another 28 years in the peace keeping efforts for this great country. I have made arrangements to meet with him tomorrow or on Monday at his legion, the 462 in Ottawa and will be there with bells on.

I have yet to make the connection with a dispatch rider from Smiths Falls and am trying to get in touch with Reg Baker. If anyone can help please email me]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=25
Big Day At Perley and Rideau Veterans Heath Centre.

The day started with a somewhat humid sunrise at the West homestead in Constance Bay. Kevin and I had a coffee together and we both started our individual day of work.

The first phone call of the day was to the Perley and I talked with Carolyn Vollicks who is the entertainment coordinator for the hospital. We talked about the legalities of interviewing the patients at the hospital and she told me that I would need the approval of each individual veteran for an interview. I told her that anyone she could line up would be great. I asked if we could invite the local news station, CTV Ottawa, to do a story on the FOV. CTV isn’t the only news outlet that I contacted but they were the only ones interested in a veterans video gathering story such as mine. I would recommend watching their broadcasts.

Carolyn didn’t have any objection if it was all right with the veterans to be interviewed. We made arrangements to video-a-veteran between 2pm and 4pm at the hospital.

Kevin and I decided that the brakes on the Blue Bomber needed to be bled one more time, so I got a 7/16 wrench and crawled under the bus. I proceeded to bleed to brakes while inside the bus, Kevin pumped them. After successfully bleeding the brakes Kevin went about his business for the day as I prepared the Blue Bomber for the trip to the Perley. I filled the gas tanks thanks to our gas sponsor in Cambridge called "Journey’s by Jerry Van Dyke". I drove into Ottawa to the Perley for a 1:30pm pre-interview appointment with CTV and upon my arrival at the Perly the CTVnews crew was already there. The camera man Mark Dunlay was filming me as soon as I got off the bus. He was getting his shots together for the story to be broadcast on the six o’clock evening news that evening. The funny thing about shooting a news broadcast is that they shot an hour of video for 2 minutes of air time and I was glad to get it and bring awareness to the “Friends of Veterans Canada”. We set up a shooting location inside the hospital with a proper background. For all you would be videographers out there, a background of war memorabilia is very important to the final video shot because it gives the testimonial a professional look. After finding a good spot in one of the hallways in the Rideau wing of the hospital, I did an interview with Kate of CTV for my segment of the story. When I finished my segment I had the opportunity to meet the two veteran subjects for the “Online Veterans Video Library”. I was introduced first to Paul St Pirre, a colonel in the Signal Corp in WW2 and then I met Gord Donald, a corporal in the Canadian army who survived the Battle of Britain, and D-day.

The producer/cameraman from CTV, Mark Dunlay, started getting his shots of my interview with the veteran’s. Paul and Gord didn’t even flinch when camera’s were set up all around them for their interview, but I guess when you have been through a war and a life after the war a little thing like a bit of media attention is a drop in the bucket.

The day went great with the final shot Mark made for his broadcast being Gord, Paul, and I walking down the hallway together. Mark was very professional and it was a privilege to learn a couple of filming tips from a pro like him.

Before I left the Perley I stopped in to drop off a copy of Harry Watts’s book called the "Dispatch Rider" at Paul’s and Gord’s rooms so that they would have a memento of my visit.

I started the trip back to the West’s home to spend the night in the Blue Bomber and have a good meal, with thanks to the 616 Legion in Constance Bay, since it was their BBQ night. I asked Sharon, Kevin’s wife, if I could record the news broadcast off of their TV, she agreed, so I sat in front of the TV with my camera waiting for the story to start. Not five minutes went by when the story started and I recorded our segment with Kevin’s dog Chester’s tail waging in the picture. After the segment was over I retired back to the bus and watched it over and over again to see where a can improve my interviewing skills. One thing I noticed is I look really big (fat) on camera. If you need to get some incentive to lose weight then get a look at yourself on TV. Believe me if you need to go on a diet, it will show on TV.

After all the excitement of this great Friday I made it an early night.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=24
First Visit to the Perley and Rideau

I made a call early in the day to the Perly to arrange to do some interviews there. I talked to a very helpful lady in the administration office at the hospital.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=23
Legion Magazine debunked

Well I talked to Tom Gregory today and he seems to be a little anal. According to him the fact that we are crossing Canada to gather veterans stories isn’t news. This magazine is supposed to be written for the pleasure and information of our legion members. We are doing something that no one in any country had ever done for their veterans and according to Gregory this story is not good enough for the Legion Magazine. I hope he comes to his senses soon. A broadcast company like CTV finds that our story is news worthy while the magazine that is for the veterans of Canada has reservations. Funny AH.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=22
Editors Referral

I called the Legion magazine today and talked to the editor who, referred me to the regional manager Tom Gregory. The editor seemed to think that we had a story in the “Veterans Video Awareness tour” so I was told to call Tom and he would print a story, maybe.

I continued to plan for our interviews at the Perly with hope that the national legion magazine would see their way clear to print our story of gathering our veterans stories.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=21
Uncertain Monday]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=20
Sunday at the 616 Legion West Carlton.

I started out for the 616 Legion at about 8:30am.and when I arrived there was a couple of people that I had met the day before so I felt welcome. I ordered eggs benedict and met Rolly Armitage. I sat down with Rolly and we had a light conversation, after I finished my breakfast I had a chance to interview him. He is a very interesting man with quite a life after the army and WW2. His testimonial can be viewed after posting A.S.A.P. I also interviewed Vera Barnes, an interesting lady of 92, and we talked about here life with her husband who was a dispatch rider in WW2.

At noon I headed back to the R.V. to review my footage and then took a ride into Kanata to pick up some food and relax for the evening.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=19
The weekend.

It’s Saturday and I am back in the R.V. and had a good night sleepand as a pay back I moved a 2000 pound Tiki hut for Kevin and Sharon. The local pub, called the Point, had an old Tiki hut that Kevin was given. All the other helpers had no experience in moving anything larger that a sofa, so it was up to me to supervise the move. Four hour later the hut was in the back yard of my hosts no worse for wear.

After the move I had some shopping to do for video camera tapes and some computer parts I needed to be able to download pictures from the new camera that I purchased the previous weekend. I got everything I needed and rode back to the Blue Bomber.

Kevin made a great dinner on the BBQ. He cooked a roast on a piece maple wood, something I had never tried and it was very good.

Turned in early as to be fresh for the morning breakfast meeting.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=18
Pick up the R.V.

Today we picked up the new master. I was on my own this day because Kevin had a therapy appointment so I got on the Harley and headed out the parts supplier. It took me a little while to find the store but when I got there I knew just by looking at the new master that it was the right one. I got back on the bike and rode down to the bike shop to have it installed. The mechanics had it installed in about an hour with my help.

I loaded up the bike onto the trailer and drove the R.V. back to Kevin’s. On the way, when at low speeds the R.V. would stop great but at high speed the stopping was not sufficient.

When I got back to Kevin’s I called the mechanic back and he told me he would look at the R.V. again and bleed the brake boosters, something that he overlooked.

After all the crap of the week I decided to take a little ride around the countryside on my Harley. The ride was just what I needed to melt away all of my frustrations. I love my bike.

I will be out of the West’s house today and sleeping in my own bed tonight. I am a good house guest but a man and his wife need their space. Thanks Kevin and Sharon.

I stopped in at the 616 legion in West Carlton to ask permission to hold a Video-A-Veteran day at their legion. After talking to Ann, the bar manager, I found out that a local gal had pasted away recently and that there would be a gathering after the funeral the next day. I arranged to print up some flyers to be placed on the tables for the next day and asked Ann if she thought that placing the flyers was tacky, but she didn’t think so. The flyers were asking members to attend a Video-A-Veteran day on Sunday]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=17
Finally some progress.

Kevin and I went down to the bike shop to pickup the new master at the auto parts store and we found out that this part is very rare and it would take another day. Great know I will be imposing on Kevin and his wife for another day. He keeps assuring me that there is not a problem but I don’t like to impose. I suggest that I will find other accommodations but Kevin will not hear of it.

Kevin and I headed down to the bike shop to pick up the old master that that the truck shop mistakenly installed along with the one my new mechanic removed to return. Kevin has had issues with the truck shop in the past when they did bad work on one of his dump trucks. We picked up the removed master and head over to the truck shop to get a refund. We pulled up out front and I thought that I should get some video of the difference of the port size on the master between the original and the replacement. While I was doing that Kevin went inside to talk to an old high school buddy behind the service counter. Kevin was keeping his cool at that point in time but that would change when the owner of the truck shop initially refused to give the charity their money back. Know that the owner, the service manager, and the shop foremen asked if we could go upstairs and talk about the problem and we did. When we got upstairs the service manager insisted that they would warranty their work but I pointed out that if I had a roofer do my roof and the roof leaked I would not have him back to do more of the same. After I pointed out that we are a charity and that we needed that money to have another shop fix it properly, they said no. Kevin freaked out in the office, it was something to see. They were not happy but they agreed to return the charities money. We headed back to the bike shop to let them know that the part would be in the next day.

When Sharon got home that night to see me still there, let’s just say she was polite but this would be the last night I would be staying in the house no mater what Kevin said.

We hit the sack early to get a jump on the next big day.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=16
Another day of waiting.

Tension is in the air today because of the R.V. We need to continue our tour on to the Maritimes to spread the word. Kevin and I went to the truck shop to pick up the Blue Bomber at about noon. When we arrived I was met by the shop foremen, he had the key’s and a bill for over $500. I paid the bill and got in the truck to check out the job. At low speeds the R.V. stopped fine but latter that day I would realized that the job they did was inferior. I should have known that they did a bad job on the R.V. because the apprentice that worked on the R.V. had to come out and bleed the brakes before I left the property.

I started down to the Blues Fest to pick up our booth after being unceremoniously kick out. Residents of Ottawa know of the hill at the bottom of Bronson Street and I was made aware of the shoddy job that the truck shop had done when I applied the brakes as I descended down Bronson Hill. I made it safely around the corner but I knew I needed to see another mechanic. Kevin and I disassembled our booth at the Blues Fest and no one came over to talk with us as the NCC just drove by very slow, I motioned for them to come over and explain themselves but they pretended not to see us. Some people have no sense of honor, I guess the NCC’s offices fall into that category.

Kevin and I went to another shop in Ottawa that he knew about from deals in motorcycles. An ironic turn of events considering that we are on a motorcycle tour and we end up at a motorcycle shop. It turned out that the parts guy and the mechanic were both formally in the trucking business. What a break, finally someone who is giving me straight information.

Kevin and I went to a small Vietnamese restaurant for lunch, I was very skeptical at first because I was hungry. Well Kevin assured me that this place was great. The reason I was skeptical was I had an old girlfriend that I had run into while working in Toronto and she wanted to take me out for dinner for a change, so we went to a Vietnamese spot of her choosing. Well when they brought out the dinner, it was a large bowl of garbage. There was fish heads floating in it with cabbage hearts and various vegetables that looked like the cook had scraped off the cutting board into the bowl. I tried to be polite but I could not eat the stuff, but the restaurant that Kevin took me to in Ottawa was great, we had a good lunch.

We went back to the shop to see what the verdict was, the new mechanic had the back wheels off and had determined that the master the other truck garage sold me was totally wrong. We ordered the proper one for the R.V. from the original parts supplier. The counter man was very knowledgeable and he ordered the proper master that would be delivered the following day. It was 5pm and the end of the work day, so Kevin and I went back to his place to break the news to his wife that I would be spending another night on their sofa. All you people out there reading this know that a house guest starts to get a little stale after three days. Sharon didn’t say anything but that night was a little quiet around the West household. Little did she know there would be one more night of a big lump hanging out on her sofa.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=15
The RV dilemma.

The day started without the use of the Blue Bomber. The R.V. is waiting for parts and Kevin has been on the phone with the guy he knows at the shop. We decided to head down to the shop to pick up the part we supplied to return it for a credit. When we arrived at the shop we were told that the R.V. would not be finished that day due to the difficulty in getting the part. Kevin and I headed to his new bike shop in Orleans. I met Mike there and he let me use a corner of the shop to catch up on my Log Book. After about three hours of computer work we headed out to pick up some supplies for the new shop.

Lacking the ability to travel around on my own in Ottawa restricts my ability to gather veterans video’s. I was in good company but I need our R.V. repaired.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=14
Kicked out.

Well the day started at 6:30am with a trip to the plastic house on the hill. That went well. The propane truck was filling up the vendor next to the F.O.V. booth so I had him fill up the Blue Bomber with gas for the stove. The day seemed to be starting off well but little did I know how the rest of week would unfold.

I dropped the Blue Bomber off at the truck shop (that shall remain nameless but it starts with an M) with the intention of having them fix the brakes. Well first they checked out the master cylinder which was sweating and I was told that they did a system check and I needed a new master cylinder. By coincidence the one I provided was not good according to their parts guy, so I had to buy one from them, go figure. I sat in the waiting room, the only room on that floor without air conditioning, for three hours until I decided to go into the RV and put my sprained ankle up to stop the swelling. After sitting in the in the RV for an hour watching the worker do his thing the shop foremen told me that they couldn’t fix the R.V. that day because the part wasn’t available until the next day. The shop arranged for a ride down to the blues fest to prepare for the evening show and I rode down to the park with the service manager who had lived in the London area.

Upon my arrival to the park I talked to a person with information about first world war Canadian pilots. We were having a good conversation when out of the corner of my eye I see Red, on his scooter, heading toward my booth with a concerned look on his face. The man I was talking to started on his way as Red pulled up. Red told me that the NCC people were around looking at my booth site and that I needed to talk to Mark Monahan. So I looked Mark up at his trailer at the back of the War Museum and he told me that he didn’t think that I would have to leave but that was up to the NCC. I started back into the museum when my phone rang, it was Mark Van dyke, our gas sponsor. He told me that his company was behind us 100% in the gathering video’s for the “Online Veterans Video Library”. Thank goodness for people with the foresight of the importance of our mission. After a little encouraging conversation with Mark from Journey’s by Jerry Van Dyke about their company’s issuing of a check for the first installment of their gas sponsorship. I made a call to the NCC to see if I could convince them that helping us get the word out about the “Online Veterans Video Library” is an important mission and our veterans stories are worth saving. They were not interested in our cause and are a large bureaucracy with a lot of people that must answer to a boss. The guy I talked to told me that I could probably get a permit for free but that I was to late to apply. We had been at the spot in the show for four day’s at that point, with no complaints, or violations. Being a veterans organization we just naturally thought that people would want to help preserve the memory of our veterans, but the world is not all peaches and cream. Everyone who does not have a veteran in their family seems to have better things to do than remember the deadly job our veterans did for OUR freedom. This setback will not detour myself from doing the best I can to establish the “Online Veterans Video Library”

I packed the day’s t-shirts into our trailer on the site and headed to Kevin and Sharon’s house in Constance Bay for a BBQ. Ya’know the public are the ones who are helping me get this job done. Canadian's care]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=13
I woke up with the sun this morning, it’s a wonderful day in Canada. I climbed out of the Blue Bomber and stepped into the side of the plywood that surrounded the booth, that left a mark and twisted my ankle a good one. The road manager from "Zappa does Zappa" came running over to me, as I was on the ground, to see if I needed any assistance. This was not the first time I had turned my ankle, over the years of playing Canadian football I had stretched the tendon in my ankle a couple of times. As long as I am careful were I step I’m OK. After gathering myself I made my way to the small plastic house this morning for a long awaited visit. I then set out for a ride on the Harley to locate a master cylinder for the Blue Bomber, get an elastic bandage, and some anti inflammatory for my ankle. I headed out to Constance Bay to the home of my new found friends, Kevin and his wife Sharon. He had found a master cylinder for me from a friend at an auto parts store on Friday but he did not have the truck at home that had the original master in it. He invited me out to lunch at his local restaurant for breakfast. When we got there the place was packed and it took an hour and a half to get and finish our meal. By then I was late for work at the Blues Fest and Kevin said that we should pick up the master from his shop, so we decided to do just that. Kevin suggested that he ride on the back of my bike and we would go get the part, but on further thought he decided not to ride on the pee pad and to have Sharon drive him while I follow. Needless to say we lost each other in traffic. I started following the same make and model of car as Sharon’s for about two Km’s when the car pulls into grocery store and I’m thinking what the heck is this guy doing, he knows I need to get to the Blues Fest for work and he is stopping at a grocery store. So I pull up beside the car and low and behold it’s not Kevin and Sharon. Well the look on the face’s of the man and women in the car was priceless. Imagine having a big guy on a Harley following your family car and looking all P-Oed because you are making an unscheduled stop. So I waved with a smile on my face realizing that I had made a mistake and motored down the road to see if I could find Kevin. I got to the 417 and called Kevin and he told me to meet him at another location of which I could not find. By the time I called him back I was closer to the Blues Fest than I was to him, so I went to work.

I had a good day at the festival and got some more leads on local legions and a veteran’s hospital that I will try to visit this week. The donation bucket was very light today and the only reason that I noticed is that on this day at the festival there was a lot of young people in attendance. I have found that a number of young people, not all, don’t seem to have the time to stop and talk, not just about the “Online Veteran Video Library” but about anything to do with veterans issues. That is why our mission is very important to complete, so the people that are interested will have a place to go on the net to see stories about Canadian veterans.

Please don’t get me wrong all you young people out there, I know you care about our veterans but there is more to remembering than just observing a moment of silence once a year. A perfect example of this is that a 22 year old girl came up to the F.O.V. booth today at the Blues Fest and she told me that she was raised on army bases in every province in Canada. She seemed quite interested in our mission and had lots of questions about how she could get involved in helping to gather videos of our veterans. I told her to take the initiative and seek out veterans in her area and strike up a conversation with them and ask permission to video their story’s. Start with your family members than branch out into the community. I told her if you call ahead to a veteran’s hospital or a Legion and make the request to visit with some veterans they will be more than willing to sit down with you and submit a testimonial. She was very interested and said she would go to our web site and try to help. So all young people are not disinterested, some young people are enthused with our mission and will help in the gathering our veterans video’s.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=12
Saturday started with a little tension because of the pervious nights bad news about possibly having to leave the Blues Fest. It turns out that the Blues fest organizers want me to be able to stay on at their show but it is the CCN with the problem. In the morning I sent emails to the news media to let them know what the situation was with the booth space. At 11am a reporter from the Ottawa Citizen came around to do an interview with me. He took down some notes and said that he would be in touch with Mark to get his side of the story. I decided that there was nothing more I could do on this issue but sit and wait to find out the decision of the powers that be, so I set up my booth and got ready for the opening of the festival at 12 noon.

I was glad not to hear from the CCN all day and had forgotten about the whole issue because I spent the day and into the evening talking to the public about the “Online Veterans Video Library”. By the end of the day our donation bucket had over three hundred dollars in it, the best day we’ve had by far. I have talked to a lot of people over the last couple of days with leads on local veterans that I would like to follow up on. This research may take a few more days in Ottawa and I hope the blues fest allows me to stay on until the end of the week. My schedule is flexible on this tour just for this reason.

Red came around three or four times on Saturday. He was very concerned about the CCN situation and assured me that Mark Monahan would do everything in his power to keep me in the show. So far he is right.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=11
The morning started with a ride on my Harley out to the original service center to pick up my spare set of keys that I had left with them. I told the lady who owns the place that I will be taking the Blue Bomber to a more experienced truck mechanic, she looked relieved. I took a tour of the sites in Ottawa, stopping at the cenotaph, Parliament hill, and various other historical buildings.

In the afternoon I made my way to the Legion in Vainer and had a chance to talk with Bill Montgomery about his time in the navy. Bill and his son are regulars at the legion.

Before I knew it I had to get down to Blues Fest to start work for the night. I had to make a stop at the local Canadian Tire for some lights for the booth and while my bike was parked outside a crowd gathered around to admire the paintwork. I like that because it gives me an opportunity to bring awareness to the “Online Veterans Video Library”

Ah… Friday night at the Ottawa Blues Fest. The crowd was receptive and the people that donated money were very generous. The show started at six o’clock with some great acts.

Late in the evening the promoter of the Blues Fest, Mark Monahan, came into my booth and told me that I would possibly have to leave the festival because the CCN (the gov’t agency that takes care of the parks in Ottawa) requires a permit. If I would have been told earlier in the day I could have gotten the paperwork required. We will see what happens.

On a happier note Red came around a couple of times to see if I had everything I needed.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=10
This day started with the trip back to the supplier to return the wrong sized socket. While returning the item the counter attendant Jason, told me a about this heavy truck mechanic just around the corner in Arnprior Ontario, so I went around to see them. They where very helpful, the counter man there sent me to another place that specializes in larger trucks on the east side of Ottawa. I met with the mechanic there and this man knows his stuff, he looked under the bus and got into the drivers seat pressed the brake pedal a couple of times and had a couple idea’s what the problem could be. He also told me he would be at the Blues fest as a volunteer so I told him to look me up at the show. The blue bomber could not be seen until Monday so I headed back to blues fest.

I got to the Blues Fest to set up at about 12 noon. I pulled the Blue bomber into position in front of our spot and set up our display. I was done in about two hours, just in time to open for the first night at the Ottawa Blues Fest.

We made a lot of good contacts with local family and friends of veterans.

Red came around to see me a couple of times on his scooter to make sure I had water and that everything was going well.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=9
This day started with arranging a mechanic to look at the Blue Bombers brakes. Kevin and I went to a local shop that he knew about and the mechanic made a good effort to solve our problem but I think that this job was a little over his head.

I had an appointment with the organizer of the Ottawa Blues Fest by the name of Mark Monahan. He is an interesting show promoter that always has a Cuban cigar in his hand. When Harry and I were doing our thing in front of the War Museum on Canada Day I had a chance to ask Mark if we could set up a booth at his blues fest. He was not sure if he could accommodate us but he said he would sleep on it. So… after I did all my running around to get tools and advice on how to fix the Blue Bomber, I headed into Ottawa to track down Mr. Monahan. I got to the blues fest site and asked a passing worker if he had seen Mark and as usual he had to be everywhere at once, so I hung around the front gate and sure enough Mark came wheeling in on his golf cart. I explained that the fund raising, on a compete level was not going well for some unknown reason. I asked Mark if he had a chance to consider donating a spot at his Blues Fest and I explained that we needed to generate some donations to repair the Blue Bomber’s brakes. Without batting an eyelash he told me to jump into his golf cart, so I did. He took me over to a spot just behind the main stage infield and said that he had a cancellation and would I like to take this spot, he showed me a 10x10 and I jumped at the opportunity. This spot will give us a chance to bring awareness to the “Online Veterans Video Library” in Ottawa while later on in the day I took the Blue Bomber back to the mechanic in Dunrobin to have a look. First he thought he needed a 2 inch socket to take wheels off to get at the brakes, so I went to the supply store and got him a 2 inch socket. For those who don’t know, on a 1974 Dodge Fargo motor home, the Blue Bomber, there are caps that cover the actual lug nuts that hold the dually’s and that nut cover is the nut this mechanic(?) measured at 2 inches. That should have thrown up a red flag, but I’m always looking to save a buck for the F.O.V. So…then he figured out that the nut cover comes off, then measured the lug nut and needed a socket for that. So… I drove the 15km’s back to the supply store to pick up the socket, then drove the 15km’s back to his shop and the socket does not fit. It turns out that when you measure a socket you should measure it from point to point not on the flat sides of the nut you are trying to size. By that time the supply store is closed, So.. I must wait till morning to drive the 15km’s back to the supply store to buy the proper socket. I spent the night in the parking lot of the garage after a 2 hour ride around the Ottawa country side.

I got up in the morning and drove the 15km’s to pick up the proper socket but, on the way I decided that I needed a more qualified mechanic to look at the Blue Bomber. We don’t want to take any chances when it comes to stopping the bus.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=8
On Canada Day, Harry and I had our spot set up by 7am. While Harry and I waited for the museum to open we sat in the Blue Bomber and shot the breeze. I looked up "Harry Watts" on the internet and a bunch of hits came up and we started to look at what the web had on Harry and that started the conversation going. I grabbed my camera and started filming Harry as he talked about his days as a dispatch rider and recorded about an hour with him that day, I got some really good stuff that morning.

The day went well as we talked with a number of interesting people that day but one person in particular stood out, his name is Stephane Government. Stephane is in the department of History at the University of Calgary. Harry and Stephane talked for an hour about Harry’s experiences in WW2 and his time as a dispatch rider. I am sure that Stephane can help our cause and help Harry with some of the research since he and I have been trying to find out more about the history of his time in as a dispatcher in the Canadian Army.

On our first day in Ottawa we met a gentlemen by the name of “Red” who is a well known man in the Ottawa area. He has a scooter decorated in Canadian Flags and Ottawa Senators regalia. If you need something done, you get a hold of Red he is the man to see in Ottawa.

Harry and I packed up the Blue Bomber at the end of our day at the war museum and bid farewell to each other. We vowed to keep up with our mission on both ends, Harry in the Kitchener and me on the tour to get stories for the “Online Veterans Video Library”.

I finished the day at the home of Kevin and his wife with a couple of their friends around the camp fire on their beach. What a great country that our veterans have allowed us to have, to be able to sit on a beach with some new friends and bitch about gas prices and talk about how much fun we had as teenagers, our kids, past relationships all kinds of stuff. I love this country.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=7
This day started with a beautiful sunrise at the home of Kevin and Sharon West. They are the owners of IYFC Motorcycles, an innovative company with a lot of products relating to the motorcycling business. You can look them up at their web page www.iyfcmotorcycles.com and check them it out.

Harry Watts was in Ottawa for the fifth stop on the tour. He called me at 10am and we arranged to meet at the Canadian War Museum to confirm the F.O.V’s appearance on Canada Day.

Harry and I talked with Ralph Brassard, one the team leaders at the museum and he arranged to accommodate our charity with a spot to talk to the public about our video gathering mission.

One of the great things about being involved in part of this historic journey is obvious, meeting all of the veterans on the tour and gathering a little piece of history while being able to spend time with them, especially men like Harry Watts.

After our meeting with Ralph Harry I rode back to his hotel in Kanata, and for those of you who don’t live in this area of Canada you don’t know how much it can rain all at once. Well, Harry and I started the ride back to his hotel and the downpour started just then Harry looked over at me, and we both knew what we were in for, a soaking. Sure enough I was soaked but Harry has a large windshield on his bike and was relatively dry. What a great afternoon for the memory banks.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=6
Gananoque, Ontario.

The F.O.V. has been invited to set up our information booth at the River Rats weekend bike show. I arrived Friday at 9:30pm at the arena in Gananogue after a six hour drive through rush hour traffic in Toronto. The word rush must be an oxymoron because there is no rushing to the drive through Toronto on a Friday afternoon.

I parked the “Blue Bomber” (our tour bus) in our spot behind the arena and settled in for the night. Saturday morning the day looked dismal, cloudy and grey. The day was slow but I met a couple of local veterans that had some interesting stories.

I talked with Glenn Wilberforce, a WW2 vet of three years who also served in Korea on the H.M.C.S Huron. Glen told me about the time the Huron ran aground in Korea and the trouble the ships crew had to get her off the beach. I hope to gather more details of this story and others when I attend the national conference of the Korea Veterans Association of Canada meeting in Kitchener Ontario September 12-13-14, 2008.

I also met Doug (I cant mention his last name) who had an interesting story of his time in Israel and Lebanon with the C.F. He told me about the injuries he sustained as a hostage of the Palestinians and would not go into details, but lets say he was not treated well. Doug also showed me some of the nerve manipulation moves he learned in the Canadian special forces and as he applied pressure to the nerve at the elbow of my left arm it almost brought me to my knee’s. Doug was an interesting man with a great story but he could not go into to much detail while standing in the middle of a bike show but I hope to meet him again and get his untold story.

On Sunday we had a rally around the thousand islands and "wow" is all I can say about the scenery in this part of Ontario. The afternoon ride was a big success and the rest of the day’s festivities went well. I hit the road for Ottawa about 5pm and was invited to park the Blue Bomber at a fellow venders property in Constance Bay. I arrived Sunday evening and Kevin was manning the BBQ and invited me to join in on his dinner. We had a great supper with a good conversation and I turned in around 9pm.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=5
Kingston Ontario,

In Kingston we had a lot of help from the local C.A.V. unit, headed up by there president Jim Buffet and his wife Brenda. I had contacted Jim the week before at work and he made arrangement to have a few unit members show up at very short notice.

Jim and his wife Brenda let me park the Blue Bomber in their laneway for the night and we had coffee in the morning and some good conversation.

We had a good rally with a complimentary tour of the signal museum and rode a small tour around Kingston that afternoon. We then rode to a C.A.V. members sixtieth birthday celebration in the country and then headed over to the legion in Kingston where I had a chance to talk to a couple of veterans for future interviews. I parked the bus in the Legion Parking lot but could not stay to long because this trip was a trial run for the Blue Bomber. She performed dutifully and thank goodness we have a sponsor for the gas by Jerry’s Journey’s from Cambridge Ontario. Thank you to the entire Van Dyke family for helping the “Online Veterans Video Library” a reality.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=4
Port Dover.

Lots of bike enthusiasts and many activities for the day. We did not interview any veterans that day because of the overwhelming amount of people at this huge event. We will return to Port Dover in the near future to arrange a Video-a-Veteran night at the Legion.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=3
Trenton to Toronto

Friends of Veterans Canada in association with Red Fridays present

The Highway for Hero’s Repatriation Rally.



The day started very early today. I left London at 4am for Toronto to set up our booth at the finishing point at Lansdowne Park. I met up with one of our volunteer’s, Joe Major, just outside Kitchener at 5am. Joe is a very old friend from my teens and early twenty’s and our kids hung out together. While fueling up Joe noticed that the taillights on the trailer were very weak. We did what we could to fix the problem and headed for Toronto, we arrived at Lansdowne Park at 6:30am. We found a place to set up our booth and were on the road by 7:30am for Trenton and I was to do an interview for CBC for 10am. Joe is a truck driver and we were not sure we would make it in time so we hurried down the 401 to arrive in Trenton on time. Well we made it with about fifteen minutes to spare and I made my way to the CBC satellite truck to let them know I was ready for the interview. The technician mikes me up and we waited for the 10:15 queue from Toronto to be broadcasting coast to coast. At 10:17am we went live and I managed to talk a little about the “Online Veterans Library” and tell Canadians what the purpose of charity was. The interview went very well and I was on live for about four and a half minutes.

After the interview was over, Joe and I set up our table for donations beside the pavilion. Joe manned the booth while I participated in opening ceremony’s. I made a short speech and returned to the table to help Joe. We made a fair amount on donations at the starting point of the rally.

I had to go and get gas before the first leg of the rally departed and on my return from the gas station I joined the queue for departure. While in the line I met some riders from Quebec and they had a large group of veteran riders that were there to support our charities. We started out with a police escort out of Trenton. We all got on the 401 and as I entered the highway a motorist would not change lanes to let me on, it seems that people in cars think that motorcycles are invisible. The elderly lady in the passenger seat promptly gave me the finger and a dirty look, as if I was the grandchild that put pine tar in her underwear. Not that I have ever done that…besides that close call we got onto the 401 bound for Toronto. It was a pleasure riding with the guys from Quebec and all of their members knew how to ride in a group. The first overpass had a lot of people waving Canadian flags and giving us the thumbs up and as we continued toward Toronto the overpasses had more and more people on them. I was glad to be there and experience this ride because it was heartwarming. I was glad to be wearing sunglasses because I had a tear in my eye with every overpass we went under and although I am a big guy but it was hard to hold back my emotions. I can’t imagine the emotions of the loss of a loved one for the family members of our fallen soldiers.

When we arrived at Lansdowne Park I met Harry at our booth and he was exited because the tent that covers our booth from the elements had blown half way across the park poles and all. The wind was unrepentantly harsh that day with high winds and rain and as a promoter myself I know how much the weather play’s a part in a success or frailer of an event. The Red Friday’s organizer Brian Muntz had an especially bad time in the press while organizing this rally. He may not do another event like this rally because of the hard time he got from (it is a ledged) a soon to be divorced former spouse of a CF soldier who was killed in Afghanistan. Apparently this lady did not want her (husband’s ? ) name on the Red Friday’s parade car and normally there would have been no problem in removing the said name but the soldier’s mother who was in attendance at the rally and refused to have her son’s name removed. Who do you side with, the X or the man’s mother?

That being said we had a good turn out and I made a connection with two rally goers, one from Quebec City and the other from Montreal with both being interested in helping the Video-a-Veteran tour in their area.

Later on in the day Harry and I decided to pack up and head for home. Harry is an active 84yr old man and I have to keep reminding him that he is eighty four. He wants to help me pack things up but I try to do most everything, but he manages to do his part. We shake hands for a job well done and head for home at about 7 pm. All and all it was a very successful stop on the “Veterans Video Awareness Tour”]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=2
Niagara Falls – Fonthill. Ontario

We met on Friday night at the 613 Legion in Fonthill. I interviewed seven veterans in our first round table type of interview.

On Saturday May 10, 2008 we held our second “Rally for Veterans” Appreciation Day, with similar results as the Kitchener Rally. The veterans will tell you if you would bother to ask that, after WW2 and Korea people wanted to forget. The reporter for the Niagara Falls Review wrote a good story that was very critical of the poor turn out for the Rally from Clare’s Harley Davidson. John Clare was very supportive of the “Rally for Veterans”. We were covered by local newspapers including the Voice, which published a full page article on the rally the Wednesday prior to the event. The article explained what the Friends of Veterans Canada was all about and informed their readership of our planned rally. We had a poor turn out for our rally but I interviewed seven veterans from the area. We plan to return to Fonthill and Niagara Falls to complete a more in-depth interview with the veterans we have documented so far and to possibly gather additional veterans to interview. This mission is to important to your kids and Canadian History and a bad turn out for our rally to will slow down our video gathering mission.]]> http://fovcanada.ca/blog/blog.php?entry=1
Kitchener Ontario Tour Stop.

The Rally for Veterans was scheduled for Saturday April 26, 2008 and for two weeks leading up to the Rally the weather was great, but the weather forecast for the Kitchener area was calling for rain on the date of our first “Rally for Veterans”. True to form it was a dark and dreary day in Kitchener that morning but our hard core supporters came out to support the cause of raising video awareness to video taping our WW2 and Korean war veterans. The rally was attended by 35 riders including, Harry Watts our VP, a number of organizers of the Kitchener “RIDE for Dad”, plus most of the members of Kitchener A.B.A.T.E. I would like to thank Dave Jennifer and Wally, his wife, for helping me gather all the people for our first Rally. We had a great turn out despite the weather.

We started the rally at Veterans Green in front of a magnificent statue depicting a veteran in a wheelchair with his hand extending downward as if to be handing a poppy to the person standing in front of the monument. Behind the veteran is a column of soldiers marching behind him from WW1, WW2 and Korea. If you get a chance to stop and have a look at this monument, you will not be disappointed.

We rallied down King St. in Waterloo into Kitchener with a police escort. The 35 bikes were lead by an antique Fire truck courtesy of local firehouse and bringing up the rear was the Canadian Armed Forces with a military vehicle. As we rode to the Kitchener Auditorium people were standing along the roadside waving and clapping their hands in appreciation. The rally ended at the Kitchener Bike Show.

This rally accomplished what it was set out to do, that was to bring up awareness to our cross country tour to establish the “Online Veterans Video Library”]]>