Memories from the forgotten war

Jeff Green | Nov 11, 2015

There was a moment during Lloyd Arnold's service with the Canadian army when he could have left the special forces and become a member of the permanent army. Doing so would even have allowed him to shave a month off his one-year commitment in Korea.

“But I told them that if I could make it through 11 months I could do one more and that would be that.”

Arnold signed up in August of 1950. He was 19 years old at the time and was working for a pipe fitting company in Shawinigan when he decided to heed a call from Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent for volunteers to sign up for a special force for a “police action” in Korea.

Lloyd Arnold's father had served in the First World War, and was stationed for a time in Vladivostok. He also had two uncles in that war, one of whom rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. A number of Arnold's cousins served in WW2, including one who was killed in a bombing raid in 1942 and another who participated in D-Day and died nine days later in battle.

“Back in those days King and Country was something to me, and I thought I should do my part when the call came in 1950,” he said.

He signed up in August and then trained both in Washington State and later, in northern Japan, where he took a Vickers machine gun course.

“I expected to be a gunner after that training but one day and officer came into my barracks where I was sitting with a buddy of mine and he asked us if we wanted to take a drive. The next thing we knew we ended up in transport,” he said.

He landed in Korea in May, 1951 and spent the next 12 months ferrying ammunition from a depot to the troops who were holding a mountain range near the 38th parallel, land that today is likely part of the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.

He remembers how cold it was in the winter. “I don't think my legs ever really thawed out the whole time, and the truck was wide open to the elements, so I remember how cold it was in there,” he said, but apart from that says he did not think much about the danger.

“We had a job to do and we did it. We were very young,” he said.

One thing he remembers was a special delivery he made at Christmas time in 1951, a truckload full of Labatt's 50 ale, one bottle for each soldier.

“They counted those bottles before I drove off and when I arrived; I do remember that,” he said.

When his tour was over, the men made their way back rather slowly, finally boarding a train on the west coast in July.

“We stopped in Calgary and came off the train to a big meal and reception for us,” he said, “and there were other events as we kept travelling east.”

When they got to Montreal, where his family was, “We got off at the Westmount Athletic Town. There were about 15 of us, and our families came to meet us. We left and went on our way and I never really thought about the war after that - and the government never thought about us either. They called it a police action for all those years, until 2009.”

Arnold went back to Shawinigan and got his old job back. He stayed in the same business for his entire career, including taking a degree in business management at McGill University.

Even though he lived in Canada, he worked for Celanese Corporation (US) for many years, handling their accounts across Canada.

After retiring in Kingston, he purchased a home, with his wife Gail, in Crow Lake about 14 years ago and they have been enjoying their retirement ever since.

Lloyd Arnold has been acknowledged for his war efforts by the Canadian government. In 1990 they sent him a medal, and in 2000 he received a letter from the US government thanking him for his contribution. In 2009 he also received a medal from the government of Japan.

Although the stayed away from the Royal Canadian Legion for many years, particularly since in earlier times Legion membership was not open to Korean war vets, but he has joined the Sharbot Lake Legion since moving to Crow Lake and is an active member.

He is not taking part in the Remembrance Day ceremony this year, however.

“I can't stand that long,” he said, adding that he might go to the Legion for the reception afterwards.