Grandpa loved to tell the story of his meeting, relationship, eventual marriage, and emigration back to Canada with his war bride, my Grandma. But I always tried to crack the nut of being a Canadian aircraft tech in the RAF and the reality of what he had to go through. He would only mention in passing the hardship of counting Lancaster bombers from RAF Leeds taking off, and counting how many returned after night bombing raids.
A friend of mine had a grandfather who served in the South Alberta Regiment, predecessor to my old Army Reserve unit, the South Alberta Light Horse (B Sqn). He was much more interested in what had happened to the unit (and brother units, such as the 19th Alberta Dragoons, King's Own Calgary Regiment, etc.) since he had left post-war. I only met him once, and he wasn't too keen on talking about his personal experiences.
A few of my fellow reservists served in the Bosnia 'peacekeeping' mission when it first erupted in the early 90's. Others followed in their footsteps, but it was more peacekeeping at that time than the true nature of the mission in its infancy, which was peacemaking. We heard far more stories about their adventures on leave and after-mission antics than we did about doing the job they were sent for. I didn't have the pleasure of knowing these individuals before they had left, since I joined the unit out of basic training soon after they had begun their tour overseas.
Although Band of Brothers did a fine job of portraying the stuff that happened to the men of Easy Company during the war, I'd like to hear how his experiences during the conflict may have changed who he was as an individual, once the war was finished. What sort of person was he when he joined, compared to who he was after WWII ended. How did he cope post-war?
My only experience with this was with my buddy Chad, who had done a tour in Afghanistan a few years back. We went through basic training, trades training, and served together as Reservist 'tankers' in the 90's in the SALH, but he re-mustered as an intelligence officer after I discharged in 2000. I met up with him again a couple years after his tour. While he was always a sarcastic yet comedic straight man before the tour, he was much more a cynic upon his return. I think that the divorce he went through was much more a result of who he was after experiencing the Afghan conflict, than anything else.
I guess that the root of my question is 'what happened to you', not so much what happened around you during the war. If it drives too deep, I'd happily and politely withdraw my question.
However, I'd love to hear about his more 'entertaining' experiences on leave & after hours, and what the Eagles Nest was like after a long and drawn-out war campaign.
