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Former enemies

Heroes Remember

Transcript
Well, I met this, the German Bishop of the Lutheran church. I really thought, I said to him, "Did you have Chaplains in the, in the Navy?" He said, "At the beginning, yeah, we had them, but they weren't replaced." I said, "Did you always want to be a Lutheran Minister?" He said, "Yeah. I talked to my Commandant in the u-boats. I told him, I said, One day I'd like to be a Pastor." And he said, "You go for it, if you survive, you go for it." I thought, "This fellow's like me." I, if I'd been born over there I, I would have done what he did, and I thought, when I saw Matanabe, the Bishop, I would have, I would have served the Emperor. I would have, if I'd been brought up in that, I would have been happy to be a sailor. I might have been happy to sacrifice myself and so I, if in another circumstance, I might have been different.
Description

Mr. Sperry talks about how he looks at Veterans from the opposite side and what it would have been like if he had been born in their countries.

Bishop John Sperry

Mr. Sperry was born on Leicester, England, in 1924. He joined the Royal Navy in 1943 and served until 1946 on Destroyer, Escort and Convoy Duty. Upon completion of his tour of duty, Bishop Sperry immigrated to Canada in 1960, serving parishes in Kugluktuk (formerly Coppermine) and Fort Smith. He served as diocesan bishop from 1973 to 1990 and is the author of Igloo Dwellers Were My Church, a memoir of his ministry in the North. An accomplished linguist, he was involved in the Inuktitut Bible translation for the people of the Western Arctic. In retirement, he works with health and volunteer organizations and is Chaplain of the Canadian Forces Northern Region. On July 5, 2002, he was named to the Order of Canada.

Meta Data
Medium:
Video
Owner:
Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:
02:09
Person Interviewed:
Bishop John Sperry
War, Conflict or Mission:
Second World War
Branch:
Navy
Rank:
Able Seaman
Occupation:
Asdic Operator

Copyright / Permission to Reproduce

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