By Cheryl Lu

P.A. veterans shed light on status differences within veteran groups

Nov 11, 2016 | 11:55 AM

Veteran groups were supposed to mean comradery for Ramsay Bellisle.

He loves being a soldier, having joined in Grade 12. After peacekeeping in Bosnia in 1997 and returned from Afghanistan in 2010, 40-year-old Bellisle is now regimental sergeant major of the North Saskatchewan Regiment.

Across the years, he said he’s had “a lot of brothers and sisters in the regiment between Prince Albert and Saskatoon.”

Veteran groups were supposed to be a similarly family-like concept too, until he learned about the prejudice against younger generations of veterans within the community.

“I’ve heard of infighting in the (Royal Canadian Legion) between different groups of how they want to run things, which is really sad…there’s a big status difference,” he said.

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“If you didn’t invade Europe or help liberate Europe, you are not a veteran in a lot of people’s eyes, or some people’s eyes. And they look down on those that went over to Korea or any of the peacekeeping missions.”

One of his veteran peacekeeper friends, who wished to stay anonymous, experienced the discrimination first-hand.

On a Remembrance Day he went into the P.A. Legion and was told by a senior member he wasn’t a real veteran and shouldn’t be in a veteran group.

In response, he left the place and decided not to go back.

Hearing this story changed Bellisle’s understanding of veteran groups. Feeling annoyed and frustrated, he said Remembrance Day is not the time for arguments because it has such special meanings to him.

After mid-2000s when he began to attend more funerals for military friends, Bellisle said he chose to only allow himself sinking back into his wartime memories when he put the poppy on.

“These next couple of weeks always suck, you know, personally. Because that’s when you start thinking about all those kinds of things.” he said. “And then you get into the petty arguments of are you a veteran or not…whatever.”

The inter-veteran war at home

Grant Bennett, former president of the P.A. Legion who served in Vietnam, said the distinction existed before his time, and was held by some, but not all, of the earlier generation.

“The First World War vets told the Second World War vets ‘you didn’t fight a real war.’ And then Korea (came) along, the Second World War vets sided with First World War vets and said to Korea (veterans) ‘you guys aren’t fighting a real war, you are not veterans,’” he said.

Bennett said he’d witnessed such situations more than once and was “disgruntled” after being rejected by his hometown Legion, who he wasn’t a part of until five years later after having already been accepted by another local veteran group.

He said the distinction is dying out but still exists to a degree and will continue until the earlier generation passes on.

Rick Hodgson, president of the Legion in Prince Albert since mid-2016, admitted situations happened before, but said he hadn’t dealt with any recently and believed things were getting better.

“The Legion is (young veterans’) place too, just like it was other veterans,” he said. “As far as me being with the Legion that’s the way I look at it. And hopefully we can change it that way if there is problems.”

Hodgson said the Legion had solved those situations through better communication and trying to make younger veterans feel at home, but young people prefer to “do their own things.”

“They have their own mess hall and place to go to and socialize amongst themselves,” he said.

As for those who didn’t approve with Legion’s attitude, he said it was hard to change some people’s outlook on things and a lot of those who started the arguments weren’t around anymore.

Contrary to popular belief, many peacekeeping veterans did risk their lives on missions.

According to Gordon Pope, secretary manager of Army Navy and Air Force Veterans who served during Cold War, those times were not as peaceful at all.

“We were only five minutes from nuclear war,” he said.

Pope and his colleagues were given discs with undeveloped film in them, so they would know how much radiation they were exposed to if they had met with an atomic blast.

Though not sure what was waiting in front of them, they were prepared to be that victim.

Having each other’s back

Bellisle said veterans should be more united as a community given their important roles in caring for wounded or traumatized veteran, and it would be a shame if local groups died off due to a lack of new members.

“In the military, you have your group…you have one little unit, and you all look after each other,” he said. “And then you scatter back to the winds.”

He said the sense of comradery shouldn’t dissipate once soldiers are back home and with other soldiers.

“It’s a two way street,” he said. “The older guys need to welcome in the younger ones, the younger ones need to come in, and they can be all ‘well, we’re gonna change the world.’”

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