Fighting For and Losing Friends

Heroes Remember - Korean War

Fighting For and Losing Friends

Transcript

Interviewer: Now, I've often been told that when you're on the line, in fire, under fire and shooting back, what you're fighting for is your buddies. You're not fighting for any kind of great big cause. It's for your buddies. Yeah, that's what you do. You protect them. Interviewer: Could you explain that to me? You're protecting your buddies. They're . . . at that moment, they're the best friends that you have, okay. It don't matter family, others. They're the best friends that you have. They do the same for you, as you do for them. They're protecting you along with you protecting them, so . . . That's, that's my way of looking at it, anyway. And, if you know that your buddy's under, under tremendous fire, you're gonna be there, trying to help ‘em out, so . . . Interviewer: Now, did you lose good buddies during that? A couple. Couple, yeah. It's memories you don't wanna have. It's hard to describe something like that, to see somebody, to see somebody shot, is not a nice thing. To hear somebody holler, you know how bad they were hurt. If it's a sudden thing, it's not so bad. But when they get wounded and lay there for a while and then all of a sudden, they die, it's a different story again. So, I've seen both, and it's something I tried to forget.

Description

Mr. Gowing describes how the largest motivation on the front line was to protect your friends and comrades, who were doing the same for you. He then describes how hard it was to see friends die.

Gerald Edward Gowing

Mr. Gowing was born in 1931 in Listowel, Ontario. At the age of nine, Mr. Gowing was taken in by the Stratford division of the Children's Aid Society because his mother had passed away and his father was unable to take care of him. Looking for adventure, and to take part in something with purpose, Mr. Gowing joined the army in October 1950, requesting to serve in Korea. Sent to Calgary, Alberta, for basic training at the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) barracks, he was only there a few weeks before shipping overseas in January 1951 as reinforcement Bren gunner for the 2nd Battalion PPCLI. Mr. Gowing saw heavy action in Korea, including the Battle at Kapyong (Hill 677) for which the entire battalion was later presented with a Presidential Citation medal, the highest award granted by the United States, outside of the US. Reluctant to return to Canada, Mr. Gowing left Korea in May 1952, after his tour had ended. He left the military in November of 1952, but returned in November of 1955, to serve as a signaller for three years before being discharged for good.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 02:08
Person Interviewed:: Gerald Edward Gowing
War, Conflict or Mission:: Korean War
Location/Theatre:: Asia
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry
Rank:: Private
Occupation:: Bren Gunner

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Date modified:: 2019-04-03