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44 FOCUS - NOVEMBER 2015 ack Craighead survived while serving in the Royal Canadian Navy during WWII without injury. The 92-year-old war veteran has enjoyed retirement at Port Perry Villa for the past three years. There are a few vets there but they dont talk about the war. They live for today Born in Stirling Ontario Jack grew up in Smiths Falls. He enlisted in 1942 at age 18. I wanted to do my part Jack says modestly. Jack chose to join the navy because he always loved the water growing up on the Rideau River. And I dont like mud says Jack who equates mud with army life. His brother Mac opted for the army. After basic training at HMCS in Toronto Jack went to Kingston to volunteer for D.E.M.S. -- Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships. He was sent to HMCS Esquimalt in Victoria B.C. where he graduated in gunnery. Eight of us joined together and were dispatched to Victoria for train- ing and then we all went in different directions says Jack. I never saw any of them again. He was a Leading Seaman on vari- ous passenger and cargo ships which traversed the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. One ship could carry enough food to feed 250000 people. His navy experiences gave Jack a great respect for water and winds. During hurricanes the spray from wild waves on the sea could reach 60 feet high. Water turned to crusty ice on his skin. He looked on as two planes docked on a jetty in Wales were destroyed when power- ful winds caused a ship to crash into them. He remembers the famous Battle of the Atlantic a ship sinking in the Gulf of the St. Lawrence. Luckily all of the Canadian-made Park ships he served on weathered the violent storms and escaped en- emy torpedoes. Thirty-two Canadian naval ves- sels 2024 personnel and 78 merchant ships were lost. Jack commented Thank God Im still here and I sur- vived it all. Often it was too rocky on the ship to cook or eat and Jack arrived home weighing just 150 lbs. at 6 feet tall. But his mother Mauds good cook- One of the Lucky Ones 1565 Hwy. 7A Port Perry 905-985-3655 BesideWalmart Hours Monday to Friday 8 - 6 Saturday 8 - 4 www.taylorfordsales.com WITH HONOUR AND GRATITUDE WE REMEMBER Thank You to Canada and all the veterans for their part in liberating Holland. sponsored by the W esterman F amily THE TULIP - A Symbol of Gratitude and Friendship Every year the Dutch continue to send 10000 tulip bulbs to Canada to express their thanks. 250 Shanly Street Port Perry 905-982-2650 www.mcmurtrylaw.ca Paula R. McMurtry Barrister solicitor We Remember QUALITY FOODS COLLECTABLES 1920 Whitfield Road Port Perry 905-982-0118 www.tradingpostqualityfoods.com