Sergeant Joseph Arthur Guy Desjardins

Baptized Joseph Arthur Guy Desjardins, he served under the first name Guy. Son of Alexandre Joseph Desjardins and Marie Ernestine Allard. Brother of Julie (only one mentioned). Ninth in family of 12 children.

Events similar to those of May 20 [1953] were behind this change in the composition of the 22nd's patrols. That night, a ten-man formation was surprised by Chinese troops and almost wiped out. Sergeant J.A.G. Desjardins, Privates F.W.A. Cusson, H. Girard, and H.J. Moreau were killed, Lance Corporal A.A. Deveau, Privates J.P. Dufour and G. Saint-Germain were captured, and Privates J.L.Y. Coté and R. Collins were wounded. Only one member of the patrol escaped the massacre. These losses were in fact the heaviest suffered in a single night by the 3rd Battalion... On June 13, to mention only that day, the water-swollen bodies of Sergeant J.A.G. Desjardins and Private H.J. Moreau were recovered. And then there was the harassing fire." Les Bataillons et le Dépôt du Royal 22e Régiment – Vingt ans d’histoire 1945-1965, pages 118 et 123.

Originally reported missing, his body was recovered from a river on June 13, along with that of Private Moreau in the Naecoch'on area. A member of the 3rd Battalion, he was officially recognized as having been killed in action on May 20, 1953, while on patrol when he was ambushed by Chinese forces.

His name was inscribed on the cenotaph of the Korean War Memorial in Meadowvale Cemetery, Brampton, Peel, Ontario, erected in 1997 to commemorate the 516 Canadians killed in action between 25 June 1950 and 27 July 1953, as well as on the Korean War Memorial in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. An identical monument can be found at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Pusan (South Korea).