Description
While at sea, Mr. Guertin tells of the discovery of a minefield that surfaced and techniques used to destroy it.
George Guertin
Mr. George Guertin was born in Ottawa October 16, 1931. With 9 family members, Mr. Guertin experienced a fairly rough childhood growing up a time when the Depression hit families very hard. Through Children's Aid Society, Mr. Guertin had the opportunity to move in with a new family and life seemed to improve. As he became old, with the support from a friend Mr. Guertin made the choice to volunteer for the Korean War and found himself recruited with the navy, accepting training as an ordinary seaman specializing in radar technology and travelled onboard the HMCS Huron to Korea. When the Korean war ended, Mr. Guertin remained in the navy for several more years where he became injured onboard the Labrador, in the artic, and sustained injuires caused cost him his naval career. Mr. Guertin loved the navy life and never wanted to leave. After medical discharge Mr. Guertin accepted a job with the Post Office in Ottawa where he and his wife retired and remain today. Mr. Guertin is an active member with Dominion Command, belongs to the National Color Party in Ottawa, a lifetime member with his legion and since 1990 has played an active role as member with the Korean Cultural Centre.
Transcript
So we were out at sea, relatively safe. We had our problems. We found ourselves in a minefield one time and we had to get out of there because we happened to spot a mine. The mines are about I guess about that big and all the prongs on them. You don’t hit them because they will blow. This mine, what happened, this one particular mine it bobbed at the surface because the mines are below the water. You can’t see them until you hit them. So there’s a cable runs down with cement blocking, what have you, on the bottom and the cable must have broke and it bobbed to the surface. That’s the only way we knew that it was there. We weren’t allowed to leave that. We had to sink it. You are not allowed to leave that mine on the surface for obvious reasons, other ships around. So with our guns, we turned our guns onto it and blew it out of the water.