Korean War veteran’s service inspired by brother
Great-grandfather Roy Mackay is waiting for the day he can add another “great” to his name.
At 93, the Montreal native is a proud family man, with two daughters in Victoria, a son in Vancouver and another generation coming along.
Pictures of his relatives are everywhere in his room at Veterans Memorial Lodge, where he is among close to 100 military veterans out of a total of 225 residents.
Mackay served Canada in the Korean War, toward the end of the conflict, on HMCS Athabaskan II.
One of his shipmates also lives at the lodge, run by Broadmead Care.
“He’s a young guy,” Mackay said with a chuckle.
“Well I call him young, he’s 92. He’s down at the other end of the hallway.”
Mackay’s military career began at 18 when he joined the army — inspired by his older brother’s service in the Second World War.
After completing a three-year contract, he wanted to serve his country in the Korean War but realized it wasn’t about to happen right away through the army.
With that, he decided to join the navy.
“The navy said they would send me to Korea after I did the basic training,” Mackay said. “They were true to their word.”
The training was at CFB Esquimalt, where he ended up on HMCS Athabaskan II headed to Japan.
Mackay was a stoker — a skill that would serve him later in the private sector — using bunker oil to propel the ship.
“They could bring these ships up to 40 miles an hour out there,” he said.
The ship was used for a range of duties, including going into the Yellow Sea to help cut North Korea’s supply lines.
“We also used to drop off the South Korean commandos behind enemy lines, and they’d go ashore and cause mischief,” Mackay said. “We did a lot of that stuff.”
That particular duty drew a lot of enemy fire, said Mackay, who was on the ship for a year before the war was over, but ended up staying in the navy for 20 years, “in and out of Victoria and Halifax.”
He said he came out of the service with a trade and the experience of having travelled the world.
After the navy, Mackay and his late wife, Joy, decided their future was to head west.
“I stopped off and got a good job in Port Arthur in a shipyard, and then we decided to move out of there — and I had always remembered the good weather in Victoria.”
Victoria became home, and Mackay said he found “a beautiful job” working for the B.C. Telephone Company in building maintenance.
“They gave me a truck and tools, and I went everywhere in Victoria and the Island — as far as Port Hardy.”
He retired from the company after 20 years, and was able to dedicate his time to caring for Joy, who had multiple sclerosis.
The stories of veterans like Mackay are being collected for a June 8 feature in the Times Colonist called “Heroes Among Us.”
Talking to veterans this year provides an important link to Canadian military history, since 2024 marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day and the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
The stories also raise awareness of the Rooted in Care campaign, which is raising funds for the courtyards and gardens at the lodge that the veterans call home.
There are nine courtyards where the lodge’s residents can enjoy the outdoors in safety, particularly those with dementia who need a closed-in setting.
The three-year $600,000 campaign has so far raised about $130,000, allowing for upgrades on three of the courtyard areas.
• Discover the stories of veterans living at Veterans Memorial Lodge, a Broadmead Care Home, at broadmeadcare.com/ people-and-stories.
This is the second in a series of stories about military veterans living at Veterans Memorial Lodge to raise awareness of the Rooted in Care campaign.