By Chelsea Laskowski

PHOTOS: D-Day memories shaped numerous generations

Jun 6, 2014 | 1:24 PM

It was 70 years ago today that a group of men from Prince Albert, along with the Regina Rifles and soldiers from across the world, stormed Juno Beach.

That memory was passed on in bits and pieces to Tim Settee from his father Tom Settee, who passed in 2012. 

Tom’s training started years before D-Day in Dundurn, Sask. He became a member of the Regina Rifles and trained in England for a few years before landing on Juno Beach.

Tim believes the discipline and loyalty to his country his father grew up with led him to join the army. Tom had a background in residential schools and as a boxer.

Tom was a part of the first assault, as one of the first waves to land on Juno Beach on June 6, 1944.

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“He was actually an old man when he hit the beach. Dad was 29 years old … And there were boys running up alongside him that lied about their age to get in, you know 16, 17 years old,” Tim said.

“He doesn’t really talk about much other than it being chaos. He talked about one corporals of his who ran in front of him and of course you keep running, you know, zigzagging as they’re shooting at you. He was one of the lucky ones who actually made it onto the beach. He often said the Canadians were one of the first to reach their objective of the day by taking the town of Courseulles-sur-Mer.”

Tom was injured 33 days later fighting for a city inland, hit by mortar fire.

As a trained boxer, Tom’s physical fitness was quite high, even for an “old man.” Tim imagines his condition helped him get out alive.

Other stories were passed on annually as Tim grew up. The Regina Rifles would have a reunion each year.

“Listening to he and his comrades talking about the stories and that, they built quite a bond. I know there’s that HBO series ‘The Band of Brothers’ and how close they became after that. Not different from my dad and his regiment and army buddies. They truly became a tight-knit group, and the experience they shared together and what they went through I can’t imagine,” Tim said.

Tim’s children were also told stories to gain a better understanding of what happened in the war.

Tim recalls his father pushing aside the trauma of the war, “he was a stable father, he held employment, he was a barber for many, many years in Prince Albert.”

Tim took away many lessons, including a strong respect for veterans and for his country.

“The lesson is just you have to be able to accept the hand that life gives you. Back then, young men were sent off to war and that’s just the way it was. I can’t imagine as many kids signing up and volunteering to go to war nowadays as they did back then,” he said.

“Being a police officer for the last 24-and-half years, I’m kind of serving my country, community in the policing aspect.”

With Tom no longer with us, anniversaries like D-Day’s 70th, “I guess I would think of him more on that day now that he’s gone but certainly would think of him on the day as well when he was here,” Tim said.

Halcro’s story is also included in an online resource made to create a record of Canada’s participation in the Second World War and Korean War as seen through the eyes of thousands of veterans.

claskowski@panow.com

On Twitter: @chelsealaskowsk