Don Purdy’s family has a history of distinguished service in the Canadian military.
His grandfather fought in the First World War, with the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force, and was part of the battle of Vimy Ridge in April of 1917. That was Canada’s most celebrated battle, and was credited for the birth of Canadian national pride.
“We went up Vimy Ridge as Albertans and Nova Scotians. We came down as Canadians,” is a quote from an anonymous veteran.
Purdy’s father was with the West Nova Scotia Highlanders in the Second World War, and was part of the forces that landed at Normandy for the D-Day Allied invasion of Europe. It was the largest amphibious assault in military history, taking place on June 6, 1944.
His dad was wounded in action while serving in Belgium. He was a dispatch rider, who brought communications on a motorcycle, and was wounded in the upper leg. His son didn’t hear to much more about it.
“He didn’t talk about the war. He said he had lost a lot of friends,” said Purdy. And that’s his experience with many veterans.
So the military was in Purdy’s blood, and he had a 23-year career as a soldier that saw him travel across Canada, to Cold War Europe, and UN peacekeeping in the Middle East.
He grew up in Hamilton, and was in the army reserves as a teen. In 1972, at the age of 19, he joined the regular forces, getting basic training at Canadian Forces Base Cornwallis, N.S., and then learning his trade at CFB Borden, near Barrie, Ont. He graduated as a mobile support equipment operator – a driver.
“It was the best thing I ever did, for the structure, the discipline…” he said of joining. “I got to travel across Canada, and lived in Europe for eight years, and I lived for six months in the Middle East.”
In Canada, his jobs ranged from doing snow removal at airports, or painting lines on the runways, driving fuel or supplies, and driving for VIPs.
Many of the VIPs were top brass in the military, but he also drove in the motorcade for Pope John Paul II during his visit to B.C. in 1984, and for King Charles, when he was a prince, during his visit to Winnipeg in 1979. He shook the monarch’s hand.
He also did six months with UNEFII Ismailia Egypt, the Second United Nations Emergency Force, on a peacekeeping mission. They were stationed in Egypt, there from 1973 to 1979 to monitor a ceasefire between Egyptian and Israeli forces after the Yomo Kippur War.
He was posted to a service battalion in Lahr, Germany for two four-year tours. The country was divided into East and West, fraught with Cold War tensions, and with the terrorist Baader Meinhof gang threatening, and their activities putting military bases on alert.
His wife Gail came with him on the second tour, and they were able to visit her grandparents who lived in Germany, to vacation together in Spain, and to and see much of Europe.
“The cultural experience was phenomenal,” he said of his time in the army.
He was there when the Berlin wall come down in 1989. He walked through Checkpoint Charlie, the famous border crossing between East and West Berlin. He picked up a piece of the Berlin Wall on the ground, and he still has it.
At 39, with the Canadian government downsizing the military, he got the “golden handshake,” and his military career came to an end.
Unlike his father, Purdy wasn’t traumatized by war, or his experiences in the military.
“It was a great life, and I enjoyed it,” he said. “We were peacekeepers, and I was proud of it.”
“Some of my friends were in Afghanistan after I got out. They don’t talk about it,” he said. “Your job is to do what you have to do.”
Purdy worked as a driver in civilian life, retiring in 2022. He joined the Maple Ridge Legion in 2018, and was appointed Sergeant at Arms, and also joined the Colour Party and Honour Guard.
At this time of year, he goes to local elementary schools to speak about Remembrance Day.
At a time when he feels recognition of military service is at a low ebb, he is grateful for Remembrance Day and the thousands who turn out at the Cenotaph in Memorial Peace Park to pay their respects.
“It’s about remembering our forefathers, who sacrificed their lives for us to have a free country,” Purdy said.
“I think about my dad, and my grandfather, and all the friends I had in the service.”