Donna Farrell followed her then-partner to be a UN Peacekeeper in the Congo in 1963. When she mentioned missionaries returning “mangled,” it’s when her lip quivered and the tears started to well in her eyes. The memories she wished she could forget.
“It’ll always be with me. I mean, I’ve had it since I was 21, 22 years old. I’m 85 now,” she said.
As she sat in the auditorium of the Royal Canadian Legion Coronation Branch 286 for Remembrance Day on Irwin Road, she recalled the experience as the moment she understood war did not discriminate — not even peacekeepers were safe.
She decided to leave a month early from a 15-month contract because she says her father was suffering from heart attacks because he was so concerned about her living in an active war zone.
The experience helps her understand what other veterans are going through when they return. What she can’t understand, though, is why it persists.
“I don't understand why people can't get along. The world's got so much to offer. Why can't people…? It's hard to comprehend it,” Farrell said.
Chairs were filled, and people lined the walls, including police and OPP, to honour those who served in the military to ensure the freedoms enjoyed today. Poems were read, videos were shared, and there was a laying of the wreaths ceremony.
Bill MacAulay read the poem “In Flanders Fields” for the service. He said he grew up during the Second World War. For him, life back then was carrying gas masks to school, being allowed one egg a week, and sometimes a girl would just burst out in tears remembering her father would never return because he died in war.
He was conscripted to the air force and served in Germany and Cyprus when he was 23 years old in 1953. He’s heard plans to make Remembrance Day a holiday, but he says the last thing it should be called is a holiday.
“All the atrocities that were committed should never be allowed to happen again, that people are treated like that,” he said.
Participants were later brought outside to lay a poppy on the wreath in front of the cenotaph. Kevin Dobbyn was one of the officers standing by as participants walked toward the cenotaph. He served in the military as an armoured crewman in the First Hussars from December 1984 to December 1992.
For Dobbyn, he says since a reunion of his regiment seven years ago, about 20 to 30 members have passed away. He remembers a few of them for Remembrance Day, like one he’d known since basic training. He had been laughing and joking with him over the phone, and the next day, he got a call from his mom to let Dobbyn know he died by suicide.
“I was the last person to talk to him,” he said.
He knows the military wasn’t easy, especially for those who were deployed. Veterans Affairs Canada estimated that up to 10 per cent of war zone veterans, including peacekeeping forces like Donna Farrell’s role, will experience a chronic condition known as post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dobbyn was never deployed into any war zones, but instead stayed in the country to train soldiers. He said rigorous training caused enduring pain in his knees, back, shoulders and ankles. He’s still an insomniac because of the training. But he doesn’t regret the decision.
“If I didn't have the service, I wouldn't have the experience or met the people I met,” he said.
