A First Nations Veteran was honoured posthumously in late January at the Birch Hills Legion.
Legion Deputy Zone Commander Deanne Riese and Birch Hills President Ron Lyons awarded Mervin “John” Bear the Queen Elizabeth Platinum Jubilee medal posthumously to his sons Randy and Dean Bear.
After the presentation, Riese chatted with his sons and sister Lois about his service in the Royal Canadian Artillery Second Regiment.
“He had enlisted and he did his basic training at Camp Petawawa and then after basic he came home before he went off to Korea,” Randy said. “When he found out he was going to be serving in the Korean Conflict, he said he took a train to Seattle and jumped on a steamer. (He) didn’t say how long it took to get from Seattle to Japan, and then flew from Japan to Inchon and he served around the Inchon area of South Korea.”
Randy said his father served in Korea for nearly two years until 1953 and then almost another year after the ceasefire.
The family originally planned the award presentation for late summer or early fall in 2023 at the Korean War Memorial in Prince Albert. However, Bear wasn’t feeling well the day of presentation, so the ceremony was postponed. He passed away on Jan. 5 at the age of 90 before they could reschedule.
Although he never got to attend the ceremony, Randy was pleased to hear he would be recognized.
“When I talked to Dad about it in late fall there, I told him ‘this is a really beautiful thing that the Legion and your country is doing to honour you,’” Randy said. “He kind of didn’t see it at first, but then the more he thought of it, the more he got excited about it.”
According to Randy, Legion representatives, FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron Vice Chief Dutch Lerat and other chiefs and representatives of the First Nations Veterans Association attended his funeral at the Muskoday Hall on January 9.
His sister Lois Bear said that John had strong opinions about the Korean War, and was often invited to schools to give presentations on it.
“He said in the days when we went to war in Korea, they called it a conflict,” Lois remembered. “It wasn’t a conflict, he said, it was a war. He was very determined it was just not a conflict, it was a war.”
Although John would talk about the war in schools, he never mentioned it while his children were growing up. Dean said he did get some information once when they were working around the yard. John would not talk about particular events so Dean asked about serving in the artillery.
“I think it was a 40mm that he was working with—a platoon that was on with a 40mm gun,” Dean remembered. “I said, ‘well, how far away would you be looking at hitting a target?’ He said, ‘from our farm over to Davis,’ which was about three and a half miles and I left it there.”
Dean did not bother with a follow-up question about how hard it would be to see the target,
Randy explained that he never really said anything but after he moved he began to tell a few stories.
“When he was in Herb Bassett, when I would go visit him and we would talk about all kinds of things He did tell me a couple of things and about one close call in particular,” Randy said.
Lois said that she heard stories about children in Korea who would get jackets from soldiers and then the next day they would see the jacket on other children.
“He said that the next day we’d see a bigger kid with the jacket,” Lois said.
Dean his father’s stance was a common one among Muskoday veterans. He asked many of them about their experiences, and like his father, they didn’t want to talk about it.
The award was presented on Jan. 30 at the Birch Hills Legion. The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal (Provincial) commemorates the 70th anniversary of the Accession of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second to the Throne as Queen of Canada. The Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (Saskatchewan) recipients are to be of all ages and from all walks of life who have contributed to their community and society.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
