Veterans deliver message of peace to students
Students at St. Joseph elementary school in Port Colborne set aside their work Wednesday morning to hear from two men with plenty of first-hand experience on how important Remembrance Day should be to young people.
Visiting the Grade 7-8 split class of Ginette McCormack for a one-hour chat were Jim Summersides, a veteran of the Second World War, as well as Cliff Driscoll, a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who participated in peacekeeping missions with the United Nations in parts of Europe.
Summersides, born in 1924, joined the Armed Forces at age 18, training in Orillia before deploying overseas and fighting in Italy and France.
In 2015, Summersides was one of 42 special service veterans, 14 of them from Canada, honoured in Washington, D.C., with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honour in the United States.
In 1944, Summersides joined a Canadian-American unit known as the Devil’s Brigade, respected for fighting in some of the most dangerous and difficult missions during the conflict.
On more than one occasion, Summerides emphasized to the students at the French-language school that “war is hell” and that they should do everything they can in their lives to appreciate peace.
“If you can, with your education behind you, work to save the country from going to war again — do it,” he told the classroom of about 20 students.
He also told students about watching a friend and fellow soldier die in front of him, how his unit had to ration food while in battle and about the several medals he has been decorated with.
Driscoll, poppy chairman for Royal Canadian Legion Branch 4 in Welland, said speaking with youths is important to making them realize why Canada is “one of the best countries in the world.”
“If people wouldn’t have gone over to fight, who knows what kind of mess we would be in today,” he said.
Wiliam Veenstra, a Grade 8 student and member of Port Colborne’s 79 Lynton Davies air cadets squadron, said he was very interested in the stories told by the two men.
“First of all, it’s part of our history, but they both fought for us and to protect our country and help other nations,” he said while wearing his cadet uniform.
In September, Summersides, who grew up in Welland, was honoured when the Town of Pelham opened a street named after him.