| CANADA’S
WAR VETS
by Tom Fennell, Maclean’s, April 24, 2000 |
Thousands of Canadians fought in Vietnam between 1964 and 1973, and some never returned. Those that did often still wake up in a cold sweat. "I am seeing a psychiatrist to help me work through my memories,' says Brown, 51, who now lives near Ottawa and has just published a book, There It Is: A Canadian in the Vietnam War. Many other Canadians served willingly. Lee Hitchins, 55, and two high-school buddies in Smiths Falls, Ont, travelled to Buffalo, N.Y., in 1963 and enlisted in the U.S. navy. "The Communists were bad and we good," recalls Hitchins. In 1965, Hitchins was assigned to a destroyer off the Vietnam coast for an eight- month tour. He returned to Smiths Falls in 1972-reluctant to talk much about his experiences. "It was worse coming back to Canada," says Hitchins. "All we heard about were the draft dodgers who came up here”. Exactly how many Canadians served in Vietnam is difficult to determine. Hitchins, who is president of the Canadian Vietnam Veterans-Ottawa, estimates the number at 30,000 to 40,000. The confusion exists because Canadians drafted while they were living in the United States show up in records as Americans. But Hitchins says that, so far, more than 100 dead soldiers listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington have officially been confirmed as Canadian. Their names also appear on a Canadian memorial in a park in Windsor-just across the Detroit River from the United States. Buy There
It
Is: A Canadian in the Vietnam War by Les D. Brown and save
upto 30%!
|
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