Editor’s note: Veterans who served in peace time sometimes feel that their service has been forgotten, but they were ready to go wherever they were ordered to whatever situation arose, and many of them faced danger in UN peacekeeping missions. They did what they had to do and they are Canadian heroes.

Mike Jalonen

Mike Jalonen joined the Army in 1958 and retired as a captain in 1992.

“In 1958 there was a recession and the military was a good place to get a job,” he said. “Many people joined for only three years but I liked the people and the work. There were some people in basic training who had been in the military for five or six years during the Second World War and then had been out but had difficulty adjusting to civilian life and re-enlisted. They would talk about their war experiences but only the good things.”

Jalonen worked mostly in accounting but also trained as a long-range sniper. He served in Canada, Germany and Washington, D.C. as part of the Canadian Defence Liaison Staff, as well as at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa. He also served six months in Cyprus in 1968 and six months in Egypt in 1978.

He met Egyptian and Israeli people and could see that both had some valid points of view in the conflict although it was difficult as a Canadian to understand the long history of the area that had brought it to and kept it in a state of off-and-on war.

“I was fortunate not to be involved in conflict in 34 years. It was an average career. A soldier’s job is to go wherever the civilian government sends them. You go where you’re sent,” said Jalonen. “We weren’t sent into combat. We were part of the forgotten military. It was different in the war when they were shooting real bullets. I have the utmost respect for those guys.

“When we go to the Remembrance Day services, for that brief moment, everyone is young again. We see people we haven’t seen all year and hope to see them again next year although that is not always the case.”

Now, while he remembers, he also thinks about the Canadians serving in Afghanistan in a war that seems in many ways where there can be no clear-cut victory. It is brought closer to home because his daughter-in-law will soon be serving in Afghanistan as a hospital administrator.

Loran Benoit

Loran Benoit remembers sitting on his grandfather’s knee listening to stories about his experiences in the Canadian Army in the First World War.

“That tweaked my interest and I knew from a young age that I wanted to go into the military,” he said.

The military was a family tradition, with his great-grandfather also in the services and uncles in the Second World War.

He joined the Land Forces in Newfoundland and ended up in the Air Force in a career that lasted from 1969 to 1993 when he retired as a Corporal.

“The military training was rough because even though I had been working fishing, I didn’t know how to swim. They threw me in the water and I learned pretty quickly. I knew that the military wasn’t a nine-to-five job and that I might be exposed to hostilities but I didn’t know that would be in my own country,” he said.

He was one of a number of Canadian personnel on alert to go to Quebec during the 1970 FLQ October Crisis. His unit was not called up but the members were ready to do whatever had to be done.

“When you join the military, you know that at some point you might be involved in hostilities and if you are not ready to do that, you shouldn’t join,” he said.

In 1971, he was posted to Cyprus as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force where he patrolled the Green Line that divided the city of Nicosia. He observed that the people who had been born on the island got along well enough but the Greeks and Turks from the mainland did not.

“We had people shoot at us and throw rocks. We had to lead convoys of civilian and military vehicles through the mountains. It was strange for me, I had never been to a place where people seemed to place so little value on human life. They seemed to put more value on their animals.”

In 1978, Benoit re-mustered to the Air Force in Calgary, along with some other members of his unit, and trained as an aircraft rescue specialist and firefighter. That included two years’ service on a ship.

“It was a good job, very satisfying. I never had any desire to do anything else,” he said.

He believes that when the military is not actively engaged, members should be tasked to national service for disasters because they have the training, knowledge and equipment to give expert assistance.

Arctic survival training was an unforgettable experience.

“It’s a beautiful part of the country that most Canadians never see. The people are incredibly friendly and giving. I was able to see polar bears there.”

The camaraderie of the services remains, as recently he recognized a photo of a former comrade in the Peacekeeper Veterans’ publication and got back in touch after more than 20 years.

“It would be my hope that on Remembrance Day the young people in the country think about why they have the freedom to go to school and to speak their minds and to think that a lot of people paid a heavy price to make sure they have that,” he said.

Benoit believes that every young Canadian should serve some time in the military to teach them how to take care of themselves and other people.

“It makes me proud when I hear a young person say that they are going to join the military because I know that down the road it’s going to benefit them,” he said. “I’m concerned about future generations — we have to mentor these kids and point them in the right direction.”

Ron Heuman

Ron Heuman joined the RCAF in Edmonton in 1964 and retired as Major in 1994. He worked in ground transportation, including general vehicle service, snow and ice control and refueling aircraft. The services took him across Canada and to Lahr, Germany.

“I enjoyed the camaraderie, the career opportunities, the challenges and the variety of lifestyle,” he said. “One of the highlights in air transportation was loading Hercules aircraft to provide support for Army maneuvres and deployments.”

A 32-year member of the Royal Canadian Legion, Heuman was instrumental in getting the local Remembrance Day services moved indoors in 2002.

“We like to see the excellent turnout and that people are taking that moment to reflect on having the freedom and liberation to do what they are doing and to understand that the world is still in a state of unrest. Young men and women continue to serve and are dying for us to protect our freedoms and liberties.

“We take it for granted but we should take the time in Veterans’ Week to pay our respects and bring this home to our families and neighbours.”

Heuman reminded everyone that the war in Afghanistan is closer to home now that members of the B.C. Dragoons Reserve Unit are serving there.