“My Grandpa would do it all over again.”
That is how Crystal Gibbs, a Lheidli T’enneh Councillor, remembers William John Baker, her Grandfather who fought for Canada in the Second World War.
Today (November 8th) is Indigenous Veterans Day and November 11th is Remembrance Day, a time of the year Gibbs said her Grandpa is top of mind.
“It is a day my family honours my Grandpa, along with all of the other men and women who fought, continue to fight, and those that lost their battle to give us our freedom in what is known as Canada,” she said.
Baker was born on October 7th, 1924 and was also a member of the Lheidli T’enneh.
“He enrolled between 1939 and 1940 and served until his honourable discharge in 1945,” she said.
Baker served in Canada, Britain, and Northwest Europe. Gibbs said he wounded in battle and was left with a bullet fragment in his arm for the rest of his life.
“He didn’t talk a lot about his service,” she said. “We would ask questions and his answer was ‘it is better left in the past.'”
Even though Baker fought for and returned to a country where he faced discrimination for being Indigenous, Gibbs simply said he would have chosen to fight all over again.
“I know many others would [too]. It is not about being Indigenous, it is about doing what was right. They weren’t treated fairly, as we all know, but I know he would do it all over again,” she said.
“He was a very honourable, amazing man all around.”
Gibbs said her family will be laying a wreath in his memory at the cenotaph during Saturday’s Remembrance Day Ceremony.
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