The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, November 9, 1994 - B1

_TERRACE STANDARD:

INSIDE.

wie

arn an

_ joke.

my older son left home. I
living. room whenever I visit, That old chair.
» He says he’ll never part with it.

HERE BY CHOICE
FAE COLLINS MOONEY

Friendship helps
fight life’s battles

IFE’S BATTLES are not easily

won alone. Or fought. Whatever

our battle in life, whether it’s a per-

sonal war with cancer, or an addic-
tion, or the grieving of a major loss, as long as
there is a strong shoulder or a kind word to of-
fer support and encouragement, the weary war-
rior is able to battle on.

What would we do without friends?

I remember reading a sign as we passed
through a smal! community on our move north
to Terrace, It said, ‘‘A stranger is a friend you
haven’t met yet.”’

I liked that. I was moving to a town where I
knew no one. A town [ull of future friends.

And what friends they have been, Even those
I have never met. Yes, even strangers have
come to my aid over the years I have lived
here. And I still find it incredible.

When I think of the day my son was struck
by a car and suffered a fractured skull, I re-
member Linda. I see her standing at the bottom
of the porch steps with a bowl of fresh picked
raspberries from her garden and concern on her

no words to express, she understood. Her
presence was comforling.

At the scene of the accident I remember oily
-a blur of legs around me as I bent over my son
“lying. on the pavement. Who notified the po-

lice? Who called for the ambulance? Who
came to the aid of my son? I have no recollec-
tion. But I am grateful to that person for his in-
‘volvement, and for caring.

My son recovered, and the memory of that
‘traumatic summer has mellowed. It’s Linda’s
kindness, and the kindness of an unscen and
unknown friend that I remember most now.

The kindness of friends, even strangers, dur-

ing those lowest of moments... The help given
when standing among the ashes and ruins of
. your life -

Time may soften the pain, bul it is friends

that make the memory bearable.

Friends like Francis and Keith and a bow! of

hot chili on a cald, homeless night, and a place

‘| for surviving pets until we could care for them

‘again. Judy and Howard and a shoulder to cry
on. Dawn and her mother with canned goods
_and clothes, and time spent just sitting together
_as I attempted to regather my wits. Dishes, and
beds, and bedding from Debbie, and Linda,
and a whole church congregation. I don’t even
“attend that church -
A. surprise shower!
Essential things: A hug. A smile. A visit, A

_. Little things, when you have nothing: Coat
hangers. A deck of cards, Toothbrushes. A pair
of fireman’s boots.

Days passed by in a blur, punctuated by ex-

- Clamation marks of generosity and kindness
that remain sharp and clear.

Like the anonymous gifts we received from
strangers:

~ Onone of the beds downstairs is a crocheted
afghan that, through a cold and barren winter,
lessened a chill and a gricving heart. I don’t
know who gave il to us, but every time I make
the bed downstairs, I remember the kindness of
a stranger So many years ago.

Our dining room furnilure that winter was a
cardiable and four chairs. A lovely lace

_ tablecloth donated by someone unknown was

- the only bit of elegance I possessed. Now it
graces a table at the end of the hall, and in my
mind and heart it is among my most treasured
possessions,

And three chairs, old and worn and in need
of reupholstering remain, even though we have

a house full of new and fancy furnishing.

- Three old chairs given to us when all we had to

cupant and offer comfort, Hubby already had a
chair for himself. These, my sons and I
claimed for our own.

_ One of them travelled to Prince George when
I see it there in his

~ The second one is. downstairs in my other

~ son’s roam, waiting to welcome him whenever

‘he returns home for a visit.

face. She was there for me. Even though Thad

' sit on was a bare floor, Three old cozy comfy.
chairs that seemed to wrap around the oc-

| Ending the occupation -

Dutch immigrants recall arrival of the Canadian Army

By JEFF NAGEL
HE FIRST Cana-
dians Nel Licuwen
ever met were the
young troops who
liberated her Dutch village in
May of 1945,

“T can siill see the Canadian
soldiers coming down our
strect,’’ says the retired Terrace
nurse. ‘““They were in jeeps,
wearing khaki uniforms.”

“They waved and smiled at us,
and we in turn waved and smiled
back, hooting and hollering.”’

Licuwen was 20 years old then,
and it would be another five years
before she immigrated to Canada.

But it’s still one of her strongest
memories,

“T remember it was a hot day
and we got really dizzy in the
sun,”’ she said. ‘“The soldiers
pathered at the town hall and
were welcomed and thanked by
the mayor and the underground
herocs.””

She was the second oldest in a
family of 11 in her village of
Andyk in (he north of Holland.

She knew the allied forces were
coming when she stood on a dike
and looked across the Zuiderzee
and saw the Dutch red, white and
blue fags Aying from buildings
northeast in Friesland.

When the Canadians arrived the

MESSAGE

delirious Dutch townsfolk
celebrated with parades, competi-
tions, folk dances and singing.

Itended years of secrecy for her
father who was one of the men
who organized the underground
in Andyk.

Young Dutch men in the un-
derground would be protected at
safc houses in each village.

“The underground boys would
raid the storage places of the Ger-
mans — where they had put the
food they had stolen from us —
and get it back.”’

She said the Dutch boys were
hidden so they didn’t have to go
work in German factories.

There were also dangerous
times.

Lieuwen remembers the time
when the family had left the

curtains open while eating dinner.
with some of the young resistance

Atime to.

remember

“They shall grow not old, as we ,

that are left graw old; Age shall
not weary them, nor the years
condemn; At the going down of
the sun and in the morning; We
Will Remember Them.’’

By PETER CROMPTON

It was once said: Those who
forget the past are condemned to
Tepeat it.

As president of the Royal Cana-
dian Legion, Branch 13 Terrace, I
invite all citizens of Terrace to
join our members at the Novem-
ber 11th Remembrance Day ser-
vice at the twin theatres and at the
cenotaph.

In two World Wars and Korea
some 100,000 Canadian lives
were lost, young Canadian lives,
most just teenagers, lives lost so
that families — our families —
live frecly and in peace. That is
worth remembering.

The Second World War lasted
six terrible years and Icft a legacy
of death and destruction.

It was truly a World War encir-
cling the globe from Atlantic to’
the Pacific and touching the far
reaches of the Arctic.

Thousands of young Canadians
brought honour and a new respect
to their country, and, most of all,
they helped to win the struggle
against tyranny and oppression
which threatened to engulf the
world.

We will remember the men and
women who valiantly defended
our freedom.

Those veterans who survive

today, who you will see on pa-
rade, standing at the cenotaph, in

. whatsoever weather, will not be

remembering battles won or lost
or the slaying of the enemy, They
will however be remembering
lost friends, and hoping and pray-
ing that our young boys and girls
will never be called to bear the
pain and crippling injuries of war.

On behalf of all Legion mem-
bers, especially the veterans and
their dependents, I thank the resi-
dents of Terrace for their
generosity throughout the poppy
campaign.

The integrity of the Royal Ca-
nadian Legion has been severely
tested this past year. As president
of Branch 13 I can assure you
that cach and every cilizen is wel-
come to visit our branch.

In 1995 we will be com-
memorating the 50th anniversary
of the key events leading to the
end of the Second World War.
This anniversary is an  op-
portunity for Canadians to pay
tribute. to the ‘courage and
sacrifice of our young Canadian
men and women who served
overseas, and it will be time to
think back at the efforts made by
those on the home front —— the
men, Women and children who
pitched in to support our service
men and women overseas.

1995 can be a year where Ter-
race can work together, and to
Remember. For we cannot allow
ourselves to forget.

Legion here ahead of

THE LEGION in Terrace passed
a bylaw in September allowing
the use of religious headgear,

But the move was a reiteration
— not a reversal — of existing
branch policy.

Legion Branch 13 president

Peter Crompton says a bylaw was.

passed several years ago allowing

the wearing of religious headgear.

in the Legion.

That happened because city
aldermen -~ including local Sikh
businessman . Mo Takhar —
would occasionally meet . in-
formally at the Legion.

But Legion officers here were

“unable {o find the old bylaw when ~
the issue blew up nationally o over

the last year.

It all started when a Sikh
veteran wearing a turban was
turned away at the door of a
Legion in Surrey.

Legion branches in Canada Later
voted to reject a directive from
the. Dominion Executive Council
instructing them to allow the
wearing of religious head gear.

“The branches didn’t want the
Dominion Council telling them
what to do or what not to do,”
Crompton explained, adding they
didn’t necessarily disagree on the
turban issue,

The local Legion executive this

: spring decided to-draft a new

-bylaw wiien the old one couldn't

‘be found. It was adopted Sept, 12,

members, and a jeep full of Ger-
man officers drove by.

By the time the jeep turned
around and drove back 1o their
house, her father and the un-
derground boys had fled through
the back docr, across a bridge and
into a field.

“They looked all through the
house, every room and asked

where the boys. were,’? she.

recalls. ‘‘We pretended. we
couldn't speak “German, and
when they couldn’t find them
they took off,”

Lieuwen lived in an arca that
produced many vegetables, so
they had less trouble finding
food.

But the situation was more
desperate where Cornelius Braam
lived.

“When the war, was ended
there was a lot of hunger all over
the place so we were eating tulip
bulbs,” says Braam, who came.to
Terrace j in 1956.

There weren't any cars or
trucks or bicycles either, he said.

‘Everything was taken away by
the Germans,” he said.

Braam hid out for a while but

_ was eventually taken by the Ger-.

mans and was forced to work for.

eight months in a dynamite fac-

tory in Allendorf, near Frankfurt.
He began to suffer from

diabetes, however, and was al-
lowed to stay in his home village
of Lisse,

It was one of the last corners of

Holland to be liberated in 1945,
when Canadian forces arrived.

“Canadian soldiers are / most
loved by the Dutch people,’ he
says. “There are still. Canadian
soldiers going back. to the Nether-
lands cach ycar.’? .

Another Terrace Dutch im-
migrant, Len Bruggeman, saw his
family’s village and the surround-
ing land in northem ‘Holland
flooded by the Germans in the
dying days of the war.

The Dutch underground had
gained control of the village, so
on April 21, 1945, German
soldiers decided to blow up the
dikes shielding the area from the
sea.

They. lashed 14 sea mines to-
gether and detonated them all at
once, ~

“Everything went underwater
where we were. living,” Brug-
geman remembers.

_ They made a small floating but
out. of bales of straw where

menibers came to rescue them.

» They arrived by boat in Fries-

land just as Canadian troops were
rolling into the town.

WILLIAM HUGH McRAE landed on Juno Beach with the Ca-
nadian Scottish Battalion in 1944, He had grown up in the

Hazelions and travelled in 1942 to Vancouver to enlist in the.
army. For his story, see Page B10 -

PROGRAM OF EVENTS

10:15 — Remembrance Day Parade forms at Safeway |

‘ parking lot.

fi 10:20 — March to Tillicum Theatre.

10:45 ~ Service begins at theatre, with prayer, national”

SECTION B
COMMUNITY _ JEFF NAGEL
EVENTS B2 638-7283

‘several. families lived for a day
‘and: a half until underground

.

anthem, hymns and a minute of silence at 11:00. Music and ~

speeches follow. The parade will then reform and march ta’

the cenotaph In front of city hall for laying of wreaths. The
parade then returns to the Safeway parking lot. There will be
refreshments for children at the Curling Club, Activities for
all members and guests begin In the Legion hall at noon.

its time on headgear

The new bylaw now requires
women as well as men lo remove

_ hats and caps out of respect, Ex- .

ceptions are special occasions, re-

ligious headgear, and Legion

Ladies ~ Auxilliary - members
whose dress uniform includes
berets.

A Sikh veterans’ organization
in Vancouver last month called
on people to buy Remembrance

. Day poppies only from Legion
branches that allow the wearing
of religious headgear.

PROGRAM
OF EVENTS

Mi 10:15 — Remembrance

Day Parade
Safeway parking fot.

m 10:20 —- March to Til- —

llcum Theatre,

forms: at °°

@ 10:45 — Service begins |

at theatre, with prayer, na-
tional anthem, hymns and a
minute. of silence at 11:00.
Music and speeches follow.
The parade will then reform
and march to-the cenotaph
In front of city hail for faying
of wreaths. The parade then
returns to the Safeway park-
Ing jot. There will bé refresh-

. ments for children at the

Curling Club. Activities for

all members and guests ho- -

noon,

gin In the Legion | hall ae