15 Replies to “How I Befriended a WWII Sniper”

  1. What an amazing old guy – not part of the ‘greatest generation’ fer nothing.

  2. Yep…sorta reminds me of my old man….
    Not a sniper but he could read a room…or a crowd….
    Back in the day, we would deploy our snipers like crew served weapons….a the rear of our position……their task was not to kill officers then but to make d@mn sure the other guy’s would be heros did not take out your machineguns……

  3. Ya want curmudgeon, you have to go through the Kooteney’s in S.W. BC, there are some draft-dodgers there that will give you a run for your money. Might not be the ones with that much integrity though…

  5. A week ago tonight a drug dealer was chasing somebody in the parking lot of the Market Mall in Saskatoon.
    Market Mall is in a nice quiet area and, surrounded by the largest concentration of senior’s condos in Canada if not North America. Well, it used to be quiet and safe.
    But violent criminals in Canada have for 22 years, had 4 Prime Ministers in a row using Canada’s Firearms Act and Regulation to keep violent criminals safe and seniors disarmed and helpless victims.
    Now in the 21st Century, Saskatoon only has two areas of serious crime. One is west of the river and the other is east of the river.
    I remember being told of a motel keeper in Saskatchewan, along the number 1 highway who had a shotgun behind the counter. It deterred a desperate criminal being pursued by the RCMP. I knew it was safe to stay there. I won’t mention the motel nor the town… just to protect the innocent, you understand.
    That was back in the last century, the 20th.
    Nowadays, the RCMP would let the criminal escape and arrested or shot the motel keeper.
    Well, Captain, ride safely and honour the brave and the free. Thanks for reminding us, of what we too, once used to be.

  7. As a kid I used to talk to the old guys, all were of late 1800 vintage. All very accomplished in their own way. One a noted musician and vet, as well as raising good horses. Another a cattle buyer and rancher who never lived rich, but was. Also helped out many people to get a start. The third was a ranch hand who worked many years for a large rancher. When he retired, the rancher built a house for him in town. I used to go sit on the bench along the sidewalk and talk to him while my parents got groceries.
    A story about the rancher and cattle buyer…
    In those days there was a CCF wool board, and wool couldn’t be sold to just anyone. Wool had to be sold to the wool board, who then sold for the ‘best price’. You know, like the wheat board…anyway, the RCMP got wind that some wool had been taken across the line and sold. So, they came out to investigate the rancher who had sheep as well as cattle. I assume, because the old guy, he was getting older at the time, was kind of known for doing things his own way. Didn’t have much use for silly laws that were an impediment to doing business.
    The RCMP show up at his door asking about the wool from his sheep. ‘well sure, B (I’ll call him B, he’s dead anyway, but…) says, ‘it’s right over there in that granary. Off stride the cops to ‘investigate’. Pretty soon they’re back, the granary is locked. ‘oh, by gawd, that’s right, here’s the key’…off they go, pretty soon, back again. ‘Sir, there’s no wool in that granary’. (They were still polite in those days)
    ‘There isn’t?’, replied B. ‘By gawd, that’s a good job for you young fellers, you just go find that wool’.

  9. CC, those two guys in the bar, were they generally up to no good or did they have something specific in mind?

  10. Many years ago I worked with an ex-WW2 sniper,he was a Park Ranger,I was working maintenance on the bridges and roads in the Park.
    My buddy Roy went along with him on a moose hunt,told me the tale.
    Apparently a big bull walked out into a clearing about three or four hundred yards away. The Ranger carried an old .303 with a scope.
    He raised the rifle and quickly shot,the bull dropped like a rock. He made a perfect head shot. We couldn’t believe the range,but my buddy paced it out so it was fairly accurate.
    It was a tough old bull,so he ended up with about 600 pounds of hamburger.
    I’d heard tales of how good a shot the Ranger was, it wasn’t an exaggeration. Those guys knew how to shoot.

  11. Allan, my take on the story is these clowns were casing the joint – perhaps if it was just the old man alone they probably would have robbed him.

  14. Those who survived the two World Wars and lived through the Great Depression do truly deserve the title the greatest generation and we’ll likely never see their like again. After the last of them are gone and the generation that were their sons & daughters (which includes me) are gone it is unlikely that anyone will even be able to understand what they went through and what they achieved.

  15. My uncle who was a WW II vet was befriended by a WW I vet who had survived WW I. My uncle’s father, my grand father, was killed in a logging accident when he was only 5 years old. His relationship with the WW I vet, growing up, was a big part of his life. As it turned out this vet had served with Lawrence of Arabia and been involved with several of his raids on the Turks. The story didn’t end well as during a very hot summer day he took his rifle and shot himself in the barn.
    The thought in those days was that the hot weather had triggered a post traumatic episode he could not control. My uncle always remembered his friend with great affection. He never talked to me about his WW II experiences. I certainly remembered how mad he got when I told him about a funny episode of Hogan’s Heroes. He said there was nothing funny about what happened in WW II. That show really upset him.

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