WWII vets' memories wanted before it's too late
Article content
CALGARYThe story of Canada's involvement in the Second World War and Korea was preserved for future generations Friday as part of the Memory Project.
Started in 2009, the Memory Project sees veterans from across the country filmed recounting their experiences in their own words, which is edited with photos and memorabilia -- often provided by the veterans themselves.
"A major motivator was to provide a personal connection to the Second World War and the Korean War, to listen to unique perspectives," said project manager Alex Herd.
"We missed out on the First World War generation, there were no widespread interviews conducted."
Because of that, time is of the essence with the Memory Project, said Herd.
"This is the oldest generation of veterans we have," he said.
"Second World War veterans average age is 88 and Korean War is 78."
Stopping in different cities each month, more than 3,500 stories have been documented in the last three years.
The interviews last about 45 minutes, said Herd, and cover whatever material the veteran wants.
"Ultimately what we're doing is we'll take a clip of the interview, we'll take scanned photographs and images of various artifacts and we'll create an individual profile for our online database for each veteran," he said.
"You can listen to their clip, read the transcript and look through the images and it tells a little bit of their story for history's sake."
A dozen veterans were interviewed at the Calgary stop Friday, including 83-year-old Doug Cooper, who spent a year on the front lines in Korea fixing tanks.
"They have to do something because we're losing guys left and right," he said.
"In the last month, we've buried four of our guys from our one unit.
"It won't be long before everyone is gone and the kids won't know nothing."
After joining the Canadian Army at 17 at the behest of his mother, Cooper was a member of the Lord Strathcona's Horse when he was deployed to Korea in June 1952.
"I had quite an interesting time," he said.
"I don't regret one minute I spent in the army, by the time I was 26 I'd been halfway around the world and it didn't cost me a cent."
Cooper said he hopes the legacy of the project is that future Canadians understand the sacrifices his generation made for their freedoms.
"People say 'you're heroes,' but we're not, we just went there and did a job," he said.
To see the Canadian veterans stories, visit www.thememoryproject.com.
dave.dormer@sunmedia.ca
Twitter: @SUNDaveDormer