Doug Finney
The following is from Intergenerational Integrities 2021 Anthology. Intergenerational Integrities involves 18 like-minded, passionate secondary students of British Columbia and Alberta who share a common love for writing, history and learning. Their purpose is to connect youth and seniors, especially during the Covid-19 global pandemic, where many have been physically and socially isolated. For this initiative, each student has been paired with a veteran of the Korean War.
Doug Finney is a Veteran of the Korean War. He became a member of the Royal Canadian Legion in 1954 and has held numerous positions on the Executive since then, including branch president on several occasions. In 1988, Doug was part of a committee which spearheaded the construction of a 38 unit seniors’ apartment building, now known as Branch 43 Senior Manor, which was erected on Branch 43’s property. Doug was also responsible for having a monument erected on Legion property. Doug has been Branch Service Officer since 1985 and has attended all Ontario Command service officer seminars for the Legion. He assists at numerous ceremonies, including funeral services for Legion members and Remembrance Day ceremonies. Doug is also a member of the Korea Veterans Association of Canada, where he has served as president and treasurer.
Charisse Wang is a grade 11 student in the IB Diploma program at Port Moody Secondary School in British Columbia. In her spare time, she actively participates in air cadets and enjoys taking drawing and painting lessons. As a member of air cadets, she has been a part of the biathlon and first aid team. She also volunteers for multiple programs at her local library. Charisse enjoys reading, writing, baking and biking.
The Life of Doug Finney
By Charisse Wang
When a conflict happened between the north and south sides of Korea, the UN made a call out to multiple countries, to help South Korea against the invasion of northern forces. Canada responded and a 19-year old man, Doug Finney volunteered to be a soldier. Doug’s dad was a colonel in charge of artillery which played a role in his decision.
Doug had 6 months of training in Kingston, Ontario before he was sent off on a boat bound for Korea. He wondered what lay ahead of him in the war-torn land overseas. The journey on the boat was a rocky one. They encountered stormy weather and the soldiers were asked to stay below decks.
After 10 days on sea the boat landed in Japan. The soldiers then took a train to Seoul. Doug spent a night there before going to where the fighting took place. Doug knew that he would be faced with daunting and unexpected experiences but it was comforting to know that he was not the only person here and that there would be other people from his home country.
During Doug’s service in Korea, he got to see the South Koreans style of life. In the Korean countryside 3 or 4 families lived in a house. Doug recalls at that time Korea only had 3 big cities and the roads were poorly constructed. The civilians would place baskets on their heads to carry things. From time to time, the civilians would approach the soldiers and ask them for help.
One of the tragic things Doug saw at war was that the children going to school often found themselves walking through minefields. Doug would rescue students periodically from the mined fields. One of his most prominent memories of that, was getting a young male student out of the mine fields after the explosives were triggered.
Life at war was not easy but Doug often thought to himself that it could be worse. He liked to look at the bright side of things. War meant constant movement and Doug had to move to a new camp every 4-7 days. The commanding officer would also get Doug to drive him to the different South Korean war camps, since Doug’s job was a driver operator. Doug rarely got time to sit down and enjoy a meal due to this constant movement. He also spent restless nights sleeping in the tent and waking up at dawn or odd hours in the middle of the night to drive the commander.
The vehicle Doug drove was a Jeep. It wasn’t a good vehicle for bad weather. The jeep had a roof, but it lacked windows on the side to keep out the rain. While driving Doug also kept in constant communication with headquarters and the regiment, reporting where they were and what they saw.
At war, Doug found himself living in a tent with 12 to 35 people, buildings wrecked by bombs and sleeping out in the open air. The number of people in each tent depended on the size but it was still suffocating to be in a close proximity to other people. Doug would often go out for fresh air in the middle of the night due to the cramped space. The camps would also get bombed by artillery from the northern forces time to time and he would hide to avoid getting shot.
Doug served a total of 14 months in South Korea without contacting anyone in Canada. Just like the trip to Korea he took a ship back to Canada. The second leg of his journey back home was on a train. When he arrived at the station he was greeted by his mother and brother. He also met Tony Weed, the father of one of the soldiers Doug encountered in Korea. Tony took Doug out for dinner and the two of them got to know each other. While they were talking Tony found out that Doug was looking for a job. He decided to hire Doug as a clerk at his fire extinguisher factory.
After the war, Doug also got married to a wonderful woman named Geraldine. They met each other before Doug went to war and had been waiting to get married. The two of them had 4 children. One of Doug’s boys also served in the army during the Gulf War. Later on, in life Doug tried new careers. After the job at Tony’s company, he worked at Canada Dry in downtown Ontario. Then Doug got a job at the boy's club in Oshawa Legion for 5 years before becoming the businesses manager there.
Now Doug is a retired man living in Ontario. Before going to war Doug wondered if he would regret his decisions. 70 years later he can proudly say, “No, I survived”.