A Soldier Will Win or Lose

Video file

Description

Mr. Fowlers expresses the feeling of guilt he carries for surviving the war when remembering the soldiers that did not have the same fortune.

Donald Fowler

Mr. Donald Fowler was born November 7, 1925 in Peterborough, Ontario. At the age of 12, he became a bandsman bugler with the Princess of Wales Own Regiment (MG) and at this time became war-trained at Connaught Rifle Ranges in Ottawa firing Vickers machine-guns and 303 rifles. Still in his teens, Mr. Fowler enlisted in the army as a private soldier with the 1st Battalion Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders. Mr. Fowler served during wartime as a drummer yet managed to see a great deal of action and combat up close and personal. Fowler holds great pride for his service and is deeply proud of his Metis heritage. He has had many opportunities to travel back to France and Holland to commemorate significant anniversaries. After the war, Mr. Fowler continued to play in the Queen's University pipe-band and later in other community pipe-bands. Discharged in August 1945, Mr. Fowler went back to school and ended up obtaining an education at Queens University holding under graduate standing in Honours Social Behaviour toward a multi-disciplinary study in Sociopsychobiology. Mr. Fowler held a career with GTE (General Telephones and Electronics Corporation). He is now retired and resides in Brockville, Ontario.

Transcript

The people that run the war survive the war. The people that fight the war win or lose and I happen to be one of the ones that was on the winning side not the losing side. That’s why I feel guilty. Some of the guys that could have been friends of mine today are still in the ground over in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. And out of a thousand men, you know, especially if you are a piper or a drummer, you’re pretty well known by everybody in the band. Everybody in the band is well known.

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