Korean War Veterans Visit the Strathconas

By MCpl Jason Webb
March 2006

With the annual festivities and parade of Moreuil Wood soon upon the Regiment, it was only fitting that Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) held a Demo and Display for a few Korean War Veterans and their wives during the morning of March 8. The morning’s activities commenced with a short tour of the Regiment by 2Lt Jon-Michael Courtney, and ended with an intimate static vehicle display.

Members of E Company, Reconnaissance Squadron, B Squadron, and the Historical Vehicle Troop had the honor of showing the visiting Korean War Veterans the many vehicles of LdSH(RC). The day’s visit was a fast one, this was the case because the Veterans asked so many questions and told so many old war stories that the function seemed to pass by a little more quickly than what was expected. The Veterans did have the chance to see one vehicle that is currently deployed on overseas operations, the Coyote Reconnaissance Vehicle; and many of the directed questions were in the area of the Regiment’s last deployment. Being a Recce Squadron soldier, I found it quite humorous that very few Veterans visited B Squadron’s Leopard C2 vehicle display, this was because they were too preoccupied with the my Coyote and HVT’s Sherman, which they said in their eyes is a much better Tank than the Leopard.

Some of the Veterans that are former members of LdSH(RC) spent a lot of their time viewing the Historical Vehicle Troop displays, which consisted of a Ferret Scout Car and a Sherman Tank. They shared many funny stories and spoke about some specifications of the Sherman that even Sgt Scott Shall did not know about. At the same time, some of the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry Korean War Veterans were busy asking questions about the Tow Under Armor (TUA) to MCpl Aaron Riley. The vehicles that were on static display did interest the Veterans and their wives, but most of them were interested in getting feedback on the soldiers’ experiences while they were on deployment in Afghanistan.

Although out of the military for a number of years, these Veterans still had the same questions that any soldier today would have, such as: “What kind of terrain will this vehicle go through?” or “What kind of slope will it climb?” to name a few. Questions like these told me that these men still think like a soldier, and still carry themselves like a soldier. It is always good to see that the foundation of a soldier and Regimental pride does not diminish over the years. This became evident to me by the gleam of one of the Veteran’s Strathcona cap badge, which stood out of the crowd and definitely was noticed by many I am sure.

Perseverance