 Members of the Vancouver Police Department have been involved in the majority of the world's conflicts and peacekeeping missions since our inception in 1886, over 125 years ago. Well, and then I went into service at 17, so I didn't, you know, everybody was going, so everybody went. When you go back and you think about some of the guys and the things you did and the camaraderie, I mean, it was great. Things didn't mean much. Like, you know, you'd say, oh so-and-so just, just killed you, so it's too bad, it wasn't you. And that's the way people think. It's funny, you know. And it's hard to believe, but that's what happens here, just glad it's not you, you know. Well, there aren't too many of the fellows left, that my navigator has gone. My wireless air gunner has gone and I think Jimmy Stewart has gone and I think I'm about the only one of the four left. You know, you're young and you're full of piss and vinegar and you're bulletproof and everything else and you get into the military very regimented. You learn to shine your shoes and press your clothes and do your sewing and, you know, and you have to get along with people. And it was great for respecting other people, even though you're living close quarters, you kind of respected everybody's place, right? I got my call-up for the Army and I didn't want to walk around the world so I went and joined the Air Force. We stayed alone and I saw a lot of the world. He said, well, you'll join the Royal Navy, they'll drum some bloody sense into you. But the reason I wanted to go to sea is because of all his stories about Shanghai. So I joined the battleship King George V and I was servicing, I found out that I had exceptional hearing so I worked as Dix, which means listening for submarines. They bombarded the beaches for quite a few hours before we got on the landing ground and then they started this in, well, the Germans were just blowing this right out of the water. The whole anti-crash was blowing. Half of his gun in, I guess, but a tremendous amount never got to the shore. He sent over about 60 bombers and they flattened that down, absolutely flattened. But he also took a lot of our troops there, which you never hear about. And they're only giving us guns but they're giving us bullets, so I mean, this is serious shit we're getting into, you know. I swam out through Tokyo with fixed bayonets and I was 18 and I led the parade. I can safely say I flew Dakota from Burma to Ottawa, that's a long way. You go several times where I've been walking along and guys behind me, shells come over and they're passing, you know, the heads taking off. It happens quite often and there's bodies everywhere and they have a detail that picks them up. Well, they can't get up every day, you see. We have to wait until we move on and then they pick up the corks, whether it's German or Canadian or English, whatever. And that's not a squad eye we want to deal with. The nice thing happened that Admiral Harcourt, who was the British Admiral, he requested the crew from the Prince Robert to get the guys out of Stanley Prison Camp because they were all Canadians still in prison. So it was Canadians rescuing Canadians and I thought that was pretty neat, you know. He could have sent the liners in there but no, he sent Canadians to rescue Canadians. He was a good guy. Well the killing part, I mean, you know, you still had to do it but you still, you didn't like it. At least I didn't like it but we had to do it because my job, that's what it was. Brings the scare the hell out of me so I used to get off my seat and sit on the tubular stigling so that my hand was down. We finished one action, I forgot where the hell we were. And my nickname was Jody because of the part of England I'm from. One of the lads says, hey Jody, have you had a look at the back of where you sit? And I said, what, the armor had all been torn up because one of the shells from the pom-pom had exploded when it came out and if I'd been sitting there I would have lost the back of my head. We got, she snapped her anchor and everything on the way we went out. And the funny thing about it was we get out there and we're backing up and we get into a minefield out there. And so the old man, he knew we had a manfield, he had to plot his way back out so he plotted his way out and when we finally got on he came on the air and he says, well he said we didn't get shot at, we got out of the minefield he says and he said the laundry is now open for the cleaning of shorts. And then the armistice came, you know, the big celebration, town, town and really was finished, you know what I mean? Oh, the streets were jammed, you couldn't walk and grab a seat, there's no cars, cars were just sitting there, everybody's climbing top of the cars screaming and yelling, you never saw they like it. Fantastic. There are many Canadians including Vancouver Police Department members who never made it back home. Their sacrifice cannot be overstated. They left their families and friends behind to go to foreign shores and defend our way of life. The freedoms we enjoy today are a direct result of the pledge and commitment they made to this most honourable endeavor, maintaining freedom, peace and our security. This November 11th, I would encourage you all to attend Remembrance Day Services with the Vancouver Police Department, here in Vancouver at Memorial Park, where we can remember Canadian Forces personnel who have served, mourn those who have fallen, remember their sacrifice and this high cost of freedom. Let's all show our community that we will remember them. Thank you.