Description
As a driver of the Operational Officer, Mr. Villeneuve shares his typical daily routine and opportunities he has to interact with the locals.
George Villeneuve
George Villeneuve was born February 4, 1964 in Ottawa, Ontario. At 17 years of age, he made the choice to join the military and became a part of the Infantry 031, Royal 22e Regiment as part of a Recce Platoon 3rd Battalion. In 1985 he travelled to Cyprus as a driver for the Operational Service Officer. Following this tour, Mr. Villeneuve accepted tours to Bosnia and Golan Heights holding occupation as driver. After years of service, Mr. Villeneuve was medically discharged from the army with PTSD. He has accepted assistance for his condition and has welcomed Vardo - a service dog and true companion into his home. Mr. Villeneuve is enjoying life again and resides with his family in Ottawa.
Transcript
The Greek culture is actually something that I enjoyed. Still today, I still enjoy their food. It’s sad to see a country at war especially where we were stationed. There was a lot of destruction and, you know, living here in Canada you don’t see those things unless you are watching a war movie or something but until you are there you never know what to expect and the people, most of the people that I saw there were friendly and we went to various of their traditional things that they had shown us like dancing and theatres and things like that so I was pretty involved.
Interviewer: So you did have a strong interaction with the local people?
We did and I think that was because of the United Nations. They wanted to have a good face with both sides so even though I had visited with the Greek side, I also went on the Turkish side where they also showed us their tradition dances and meals and things like that. A typical day was getting up, going to the battalion’s headquarters, meet my officer there and find out from him what we were going to do during the day and get my vehicle prepared to do those areas and if I didn’t know where we were going we’d make sure that looking at the maps and that I know the way, where to go. That was a typical day. If there was nothing to do that particular day I would probably stay behind and help the others in the HDMQ office or the battalion QMR.
Interviewer: So you did have a strong interaction with the local people?
We did and I think that was because of the United Nations. They wanted to have a good face with both sides so even though I had visited with the Greek side, I also went on the Turkish side where they also showed us their tradition dances and meals and things like that. A typical day was getting up, going to the battalion’s headquarters, meet my officer there and find out from him what we were going to do during the day and get my vehicle prepared to do those areas and if I didn’t know where we were going we’d make sure that looking at the maps and that I know the way, where to go. That was a typical day. If there was nothing to do that particular day I would probably stay behind and help the others in the HDMQ office or the battalion QMR.
Metadata
Interaction with the Local People
Medium
Video
Owner
Veterans Affairs Canada
War or Conflict Term
Canadian Armed Forces
Location/Theatre
Cyprus
Person Interviewed
George Villeneuve
Units/Ship
Royal 22<sup>e</sup> Régiment
Military Rank
Corporal
Occupation
Driver
Recorded
Duration
1:27
