Colonel (Ret'd) Claude P.E. Charland
27th Annual Canadian Forces’ Sports Award Ceremony
PRESENTATION BY COLONEL (RET) CLAUDE P.E. CHARLAND
AT THE
27TH ANNUAL CANADIAN FORCES’ SPORTS AWARD CEREMONY
OTTAWA
NOVEMBER 27TH, 2015
GOOD EVENING,
VICE-ADMIRAL NORMAN
GENERALS
FLAG OFFICER,
ATHLETES, COACHES AND
DISTINGUISHED GUESTS.
INTRODUCTION
1. I AM MORE THAN HONOURED, IN JOINING YOU THIS EVENING, TO PARTAKE IN THIS 27TH ANNUAL CANADIAN ARMED FORCES’ SPORTS AWARD CEREMONY.
2. ON M’A ENSEIGNÉ QU’UN DISCOURS DEVAIT RESPECTER DEUX EXIGENCES : 1, SHORT ENOUGH TO INTEREST ET 2, LONG ENOUGH TO COVER THE SUBJECT. I INTEND TO MEET THE CHALLENGE…
THE IMPORTANCE OF SPORTS
3. I AM OFTEN ASKED HOW COME YOU DECIDED TO JOIN THE FORCES, ESPECIALLY DURING THE KOREAN WAR.____________ DIFFICULT TO ANSWER________ I REALLY HAVE TO GO WAY BACK.
4. MONTREAL BORN IN 1929, (THE VERY HARD TIMES OF THE RECESSION – LA « DÉPRESSION ») THIS SINGLE INFANT – SINGLE BOY, DURING MOST OF HIS GROWING UP PROCESS, ATTENDED BOARDING INSTITUTIONS SUCH AS: LE JARDIN-DE-L’ENFANCE, (KINDERGARTEN), HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE “LE MONT SAINT-LOUIS ».
HE IS VERY THANKFUL TO HIS PARENTS, WHO WORKED VERY HARD SO THAT HE COULD GET QUALITY EDUCATION AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT DURING THOSE YOUTHFUL YEARS.
5. AT AN EARLY STAGE, HE WAS EXPOSED TO DISCIPLINE IN A “GREGARIOUS” CONTEXT. WHAT A BETTER WAY TO FUNNEL AN OVERFLOW OF ENERGY, DURING THIS GROWING PROCESS, THAN, INVOLVEMENT IN ACTIVITIES SUCH AS BASEBALL, BASKETBALL, BADMINTON, HOCKEY, GYMNASTICS, TENNIS, INCLUDING ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOL CADETS.
6. THE DIFFICULTY WAS TO KEEP THE BALANCE BETWEEN HAVING FUN AND SAVING ENOUGH ENERGY FOR SERIOUS STUDIES.
7. THIS LED HIM TO 1948, WHEN HE JOINED THE COTC (CANADIAN OFFICER TRAINING CORPS) – CORPS ÉCOLE D’OFFICIERS CANADIENS, UNIVERSITÉ DE MONTRÉAL).
8. BASIC TRAINING IN VALCARTIER, 1948 (STUDENTS FROM ACROSS CANADA), 7 PLATOONS ± 200 STUDENTS, INCLUDING WWII VETERANS – BACK TO UNIVERSITY STUDIES) LED TO THE FIRST PARTICIPATION IN SPORTS AND ARMY SKILLS COMPETITIONS; TRACK AND FIELD, SHOOTING, DRILL. THAT IS WHEN THE PLATOON TOGETHERNESS REQUIREMENTS SPRANG OUT “TOUS POUR UN, UN POUR TOUS”, LONG-LEGGED ONES RAN THE “DASH”, SHORT-LEGGED ONES THE LONG RUNS. SOME FOUND TALENTS THEY WERE NOT AWARE OF. THE FEW “LONERS” DISCOVERED THE GROUP. HE WAS VERY PROUD OF HIS PERFORMANCE FOR 1,000 METRES, WHERE HIS SHORT LEGS PROVED THE VALUE OF “STAYING POWER”, LET ALONE THAT HIS PLATOON HAD WON THE “DRILL COMPETITION” UNDER HIS COMMAND.
9. THE ENTHOUSIASM OF THIS FIRST YEAR TRAINING CARRIES THROUGH 1950, GRADUATION YEAR, FROM THE ROYAL CANADIAN SCHOOL OF INFANTRY AND COMMISSION TO THE RANK OF LIEUTENANT. THE KOREAN WAR HAD BEEN DECLARED (JUNE 25TH, 1950). 2ND BNS OF PATS, RCR AND R22ER (VANDOOS) WERE IN THE PROCESS OF FORMATION. HE AND OTHER FRENCH-SPEAKING, GRADUATES LEFT CAMP BORDEN FOR VALCARTIER IN AUGUST 1950, TO ASSIST IN THE TRAINING OF RECRUITS POUR LE 2E BN R22E WHILE SOME OF HIS COLLEAGUES IMMEDIATELY JOINED THE 2E BN COMMANDED BY LT. COL. DEXTRAZE, HE WENT BACK TO U of M TO FURTHER HIS STUDIES IN “INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS”.
10. ALTHOUGH SUCCESSFUL IN HIS ACADEMIC STUDIES, SHORT TERM AND LONG TERM GOALS WERE NOT IN GRASP. DURING THE SUMMER OF 1951, WHILE ON (CALLED-OUT) EMPLOYMENT AS LIEUTENANT INSTRUCTOR FOR RECRUITS, AT THE CANADIAN ARMY TRAINING SCHOOL IN SAINT-JEAN, QUÉBEC, HE MADE HIS DECISION – A CAREER IN THE FORCES. HE JOINED ON OCTOBER 21ST, 1951 AND WAS DEPLOYED TO KOREA IN NOVEMBER.
11. THE TASTE FOR ADVENTURE…TO A CERTAIN POINT…ABOVE ALL THE “SPIRIT OF TOGETHERNESS” INITIATED THROUGH SPORTS PRACTICE AND COMPETITION, SELF-IMPOSED DISCIPLINE, AWARENESS OF LIMITS, DEVELOPMENT OF STRONG POINTS, RESPECT OF OTHERS, TRUE FRIENDSHIP, ALL THESE FACTORS, AND MORE, INFLUENCED HIS DECISION.
THE IMPORTANCE OF SPORTS DURING THE WAR
12. THEN, THE REALITY, THE BATTLEGROUND….MOUNTAIN TRAINING IN JAPAN FACILITATED THE TRANSITION TO KOREA. THE INTRODUCTION TO THE 2ND BN, IN EARLY JANUARY 1952, COINCIDED WITH THE 25TH CDN INF BDE BEING IN RESERVE. OVERJOYED WITH MEETING SOME FAMILIAR FACES, THERE WAS HOWEVER A FEELING OF UNCERTAINTY; THESE GUYS HAD WHEATHERED THE BATTLE FOR HILL 355. HOLDING THEIR POSITION FOR FIVE DAYS, AGAINST OVERWHELMING ENEMY ATTACKS, THEIR “STAND FIRM” ALLOWED THE AMERICANS TO REPOSESS 355 (16 KILLED, 44 WOUNDED, 3 MISSING PRESUMED DEAD – ESTIMATED 2,000 CHINESE DEAD – ONLY 742 WERE COUNTED).
13. THE CHALLENGE THEN, WAS TO GAIN ACCEPTANCE. THE GAME OF HOCKEY BECAME “LE TREMPLIN” WHICH INITIATED THE PROCESS. THE FROZEN IMJIN RIVER PROVIDED THE OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY OUR NATIONAL SPORT. RIGHT WINGER, HE JOINED THE BN TEAM FOR WHICH HE DID WELL IN THE ROUND ROBIN TYPE OF COMPETITION. THE BDE WAS STILL IN RESERVE AND SPECTATORS WERE IN GREAT NUMBERS, CHEERING FOR THEIR RESPECTIVE UNIT TEAMS. ONE COULD FEEL THAT MORALE WAS UP, THE COMPETITION WAS SERIOUS, MANY CLAIMED THAT WATCHING THE GAMES AND CHEERING FOR THEIR COLOURS BROUGHT THEM CLOSER TO HOME.
14. IT COULD NOT LAST FOREVER. THE BDE MOVED TO THE FRONT LINE NEAR THE SAMICHON VALLEY, WHEN THE ENGAGEMENT BECAME “THE WAR OF PATROLS”. BY LATE FEBRUARY, THE IMJIN STARTED TO MELT, JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOCKEY FINALS OPPOSING THE PATS AND THE VANDOOS.
PLAYING FOR THE TEAM CERTAINLY EASED HIS INTRO AS PLATOON COMMANDER. HE COULD BE PART OF A TEAM. HE COULD HOLD HIS OWN. HE COULD GIVE IT ALL HE COULD, HE NEVER LET DOWN, HE NEVER BRAGGED ABOUT IT. YET, THERE WOULD HAVE TO BE A SECOND STEP, THE “REAL TEST”.
15. WHILE PEACE TALKS HAD BEEN GOING ON FOR SOME TIME, THE SITUATION ON THE BATTLE GROUND HAD BECOME STATIC AND TURNED INTO, AS MENTIONED BEFORE, THE “WAR OF PATROLS” TO CONTROL THE “NO MAN’S LAND” BETWEEN OPPOSING FORCES. NOT WISHING TO ELABORATE ON WAR STORIES, BUT PERTINENT TO THIS GATHERING, CAME HIS FIRST PATROL, FAIR SIZE, 26 PARTICIPANTS. MISSION CATCH A CHINESE PRISONNER. WE WERE AMBUSHED… A THREE-MINUTE FLASH ENCOUNTER, IN PITCH DARKNESS, HAND-T0-HAND COMBAT. ALL IS OVER – RUSH OF ADRENALINE – GATHER THE TROOPS, ANY MISSING, 5 WOUNDED, 3 CAN’T WALK, CALL FOR MORTAR COVERAGE, GET BACK TO OUR LINES UNDER CONTROL. WE MADE IT, ALL SURVIVED, A CPL IN MY GET AWAY SECTION WAS DECORATED WITH THE MM FOR SAVING THE LIVES OF 6 OF HIS COMRADES. THE NEXT DAY, I WAS NO LONGER “LE LIEUTENANT”. I HAD BECOME “MON LIEUTENANT”. SOME OF THEM, IN THEIR OWN HUMORISTIC WAY, VENTURED TO SAY WITH A WELCOMING SMILE: “HÉ, MON LIEUTENANT, TU Y AS GOÛTÉ, HIER SOIR.”
16. IN RETROSPECT, WHAT HELPED ME PASS THE SECOND STEP OF ACCEPTANCE AS THEIR PLATOON COMMANDER WAS A COMBINATION OF MANY FACTORS, PRACTICE OF SPORTS WAS A MAJOR ONE: SHARP REFLEXES, QUICK ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION, OPTIONS OPEN FOR EXPLOITATION, STAMINA, RALLEY UNDER DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES, SELF-DISCIPLINE, CONFIDENCE AND SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT.
THE STORY OF THE HOCKEY GAME WITH THE PPCLI
17. ALLOW ME TO COME BACK TO HOCKEY ON THE IMJIN RIVER, WHICH I ALLUDED TO, A FEW MOMENTS AGO. IN SPITE OF THE VICISSITUDES OF WAR, WE HAD THE “UNEXPECTED” AND “UNIQUE OCCASION” TO PRACTICE OUR NATIONAL SPORT, ON A KOREAN RIVER BEHIND OUR FRONT LINE. IT REVEALED ITS TREMENDOUS IMPORTANCE IN FOSTERING COMRADSHIP, TEAMWORK, PUSHING LIMITS, AND, ABOVE ALL, MAINTENANCE OF MORALE. EVEN OFF THE ICE, THE TALK WAS ABOUT HOCKEY, AND WHILE IT GOT US CLOSER TO HOME, IT HELPED US LOOK FORWARD TO WHAT WOULD BE THE NEXT CHALLENGE.
18. THESE GOOD TIMES ARE COMMEMORATED BY DISPUTING THE “IMJIN CUP CLASSIC” HERE IN OTTAWA. STARTED IN 2013, ON THE OCCASION OF THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE KOREAN WAR ARMISTICE, THE GAME OPPOSES THE “PATS” AND THE ”VANDOOS”, IN A FRIENDLY BUT INTENSELY DISPUTED COMPETITION. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A POLEMIC AS TO THE OUTCOME OF THE GAME. LET ME REPEAT MYSELF: “THE VANDOOS NEVER LOSE”… WE MAY NOT WIN… BUT WE NEVER LOSE… THERE IS ALWAYS A LESSON BEHIND A SETBACK… NEVER DESPAIR.
19. THE PURPOSE OF COMMEMORATING THIS CLASSIC IS TO ENCOURAGE AND ENHANCE THE HERITAGE, WHEREBY VETERANS, SERVING SOLDIERS, THE ARMED FORCES COMMUNITY, FAMILIES, CHILDREN, FRIENDS AND CANADIANS AT LARGE ARE REMINDED THAT THIS VERY DISTANT ENDEAVOUR BY OUR NAVY, AIR FORCE AND ARMY DOES NOT REMAIN “THE FORGOTTEN WAR”.
THE OPPORTUNITY TO GO BACK AND EXPERIENCE CISM, WHAT IT MEANT TO ME
20. IN EARLY OCTOBER, I WAS PRIVILEGED IN JOINING THE CANADIAN DELEGATION FOR THE 6TH EDITION OF THE MILITARY WORLD GAMES. IT WAS MY FIRST EXPOSURE TO THE “CISM” (INTERNATIONAL MILITARY SPORTS COUNCIL ORGANIZATION) AND ITS “RAYONNEMENT DANS LA PROMOTION DE L’ÉDUCATION PHYSIQUE ET DU SPORT AU SEIN DES FORCES ARMÉES”. WHILE I WAS VERY MUCH IMPRESSED BY THE DEPLOYMENT OF RESOURCES, THE QUALITY AND THE EFFICIENCY OF THE OPENING CEREMONIES BY THE HOST COUNTRY, SOUTH KOREA, JE RESSENS SURTOUT LE PRIVILÈGE D’AVOIR COTÔYÉ DES ATHLÈTES TANT DÉDIÉS, QUI ONT SU REPRÉSENTER NOS FORCES CANADIENNES AVEC HONNEUR ET DIGNITÉ. DE VRAIS AMBASSADEURS DE LA DEVISE : “FRIENDSHIP THROUGH SPORTS”. JE NE SAURAIS PASSER SOUS SILENCE L’ÉQUIPE DU COMMODORE WATSON ET SES EXÉCUTANTS SOUS LA DIRECTION DE DENIS GABOURY, QUI M’ONT GUIDÉ VERS L’HOMMAGE QUE JE DEVAIS RENDRE À NOS SOLDATS TOMBÉS AU COMBAT.
BROTHERS IN ARMS AND THEIR ULTIMATE SACRIFICE
21. ON 3 OCTOBER, I HAD THE PRIVILEGE TO ADDRESS ATHLETES, MEMBERS OF THE CANADIAN DELEGATION AND OFFICIALS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA, AT THE CEMETERY OF THE FALLEN SOLDIERS, IN BUSAN. A SITE SO POIGNANT BECAUSE OF ITS SERENITY, PEACEFULNESS, IN THIS LAND OF “THE MORNING CALM”. WE WERE GATHERED IN THESE SURROUNDINGS TO PAY HOMMAGE TO SO MANY, SPECIFICALLY TO OUR 516 CANADIAN SOLDIERS, WHO, AT THE COST OF THEIR LIVES, DEFENDED PEACE, JUSTICE AND LIBERTY. 378 CANADIAN SOLDIERS REST IN PEACE IN THIS MAGNIFICENT ENVIRONMENT. WHILE I WAS DEEPLY MOVED TO REVISIT SOLDIERS OF MY OWN PLATOON, I SINCERELY APPRECIATED SHARING THESE MOVING MOMENTS WITH THE ATHLETES ATTENDING THE COMMEMORATION. AN UNFORGETTABLE “PAUSE” IN ONE’S LIFE…
CLOSING REMARKS
22. I AM ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED OF THE SHORT AND LONG TERM EFFECTS OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION, SPORTS DEVELOPMENT AND PARTICIPATION IN OUR CANADIAN FORCES. THE ENSUING POSITIVE RESULTS IN THESE ENDEAVOURS FAR OUTWEIGH THE COSTS REQUIRED TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.
23. MY SINCERE CONGRATULATIONS TO THE ATHLETES, NOMINEES, RECIPIENTS, PARTICIPANTS AND MY ENCOURAGEMENT TO KEEP THE COMMITMENT HEALTHY AND ALIVE FOR YEARS TO COME.
AS THE SUPREME COMANDER SAID: “OLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE”. ALLOW ME TO JUST FADE AWAY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION. DU FOND DU CŒUR – MERCI BEAUCOUP!
Related Links:
Veterans’ dinner prompts memories of a dark night in Korea
A unique ceremony remembers the Fallen of the Korean War
Imjin Classic commemorates historic 1952 Korean War hockey game: Canadian Army