- Joined
- Mar 20, 2004
- Messages
- 265
- Points
- 53
Canadians have served in the American military since the Civil War. Over the years 40 of them have received Congressional Medals Of Honor, including Sp/4 Peter C. Lemon of Norwich, Ontario, for his actions while serving in a recon company in the 1st Cav in VN. Conversely, 35,000 Americans served in the Canadian military between 1914-17 before the U.S. entered WWI; and 30,000 between 1939-41 before the U.S. entered WWII.
It's hard to pin down how many served during VN. There's estimates from 3500-12,000. Some sources say it may have been as many as 30-40,000! The difficulty lies in the fact that the many that joined or were drafted while living here were recorded as Americans. There are 100 confirmed Canadian KIA and 6 MIA on The Wall. It's estimated that between 30-40,000 COWARDS fled from here to Canada. What ever the number of BRAVE Canadians that served by our sides, we came out WAAYYY ahead on this trade. I personally served with 2 Canadians, an Irishman, a Scot, and a couple Mexicans.
Many of the foreigners that joined our military did so for the quick citizenship they were granted at the end of their enlistment. However, as I recall, the two Canadians I served with planned on returning to Canada. I think there's a certain breed of men that are just going to show up for a war. If it happens to be someone else's, so be it. The Irishman and I were pretty good buddies. He was originally from County Armagh, but lived in Baltimore. He was seriously wounded [shot in the face], and I never heard of him again after he was dusted off. His name isn't on The Wall, so he survived. I hope life has been good to him.
Three of my grandparents were from Ireland [both of my Mom's parents, and my Dad's Mom], and the other one was a French-Canadian from Quebec. Was raised to be very proud of my Irish roots. My middle name is my Mom's maiden name; O'Driscoll. I tried to pass this pride on to my kids. My daughter named her oldest boy "Finnegan," another name on our family tree.
Below are the names of the Irish lads that fought beside us in VN, and who are now honored heroes in their adopted country with their names enshrined forever on The Wall. May they all Rest In Peace.
Sgt Patrick Nevin (Army / b.Mayo / KIA 2-23-66)
L/Cpl Paul Maher (Marine Corps / Dublin / KIA 3-5-66)
SP4 Timothy Daly (Army / Limerick / KIA 2-3-67)
L/Cpl Bernard Freyne (Marine Corps / Roscommon / KIA 3-10-67)
SP4 Michael Smith (Army / Cavan / KIA 3-18-67)
Cpl Patrick Gallagher (Marine Corps / Mayo / KIA 3-30-67)
Sgt First Class Edward Howell (Army / Dublin / KIA 4-17-67)
PFC Maurice O'Callaghan (Marine Corps / Dublin / KIA 4-21-67)
PFC John Collopy (Army / Limerick / KIA 7-15-67)
SP4 Edward Scully (Army / Cork / KIA 11-13-67)
Capt. Edmond Landers (Army / Tipperary / KIA 5-15-68)
1/Lt Anthony O'Reilly (Army / Galway / KIA 6-3-68)
Cpl Philip Bancroft (Marine Corps / Belfast / KIA 9-30-68)
Cpl Sean Doran (Army / Dublin / KIA 3-28-69)
L/Cpl Peter Nee (Marine Corps / Connemara / KIA 3-31-69)
1/Lt John Driver (Army / Dublin / KIA 4-17-69)
It's hard to pin down how many served during VN. There's estimates from 3500-12,000. Some sources say it may have been as many as 30-40,000! The difficulty lies in the fact that the many that joined or were drafted while living here were recorded as Americans. There are 100 confirmed Canadian KIA and 6 MIA on The Wall. It's estimated that between 30-40,000 COWARDS fled from here to Canada. What ever the number of BRAVE Canadians that served by our sides, we came out WAAYYY ahead on this trade. I personally served with 2 Canadians, an Irishman, a Scot, and a couple Mexicans.
Many of the foreigners that joined our military did so for the quick citizenship they were granted at the end of their enlistment. However, as I recall, the two Canadians I served with planned on returning to Canada. I think there's a certain breed of men that are just going to show up for a war. If it happens to be someone else's, so be it. The Irishman and I were pretty good buddies. He was originally from County Armagh, but lived in Baltimore. He was seriously wounded [shot in the face], and I never heard of him again after he was dusted off. His name isn't on The Wall, so he survived. I hope life has been good to him.
Three of my grandparents were from Ireland [both of my Mom's parents, and my Dad's Mom], and the other one was a French-Canadian from Quebec. Was raised to be very proud of my Irish roots. My middle name is my Mom's maiden name; O'Driscoll. I tried to pass this pride on to my kids. My daughter named her oldest boy "Finnegan," another name on our family tree.
Below are the names of the Irish lads that fought beside us in VN, and who are now honored heroes in their adopted country with their names enshrined forever on The Wall. May they all Rest In Peace.
Sgt Patrick Nevin (Army / b.Mayo / KIA 2-23-66)
L/Cpl Paul Maher (Marine Corps / Dublin / KIA 3-5-66)
SP4 Timothy Daly (Army / Limerick / KIA 2-3-67)
L/Cpl Bernard Freyne (Marine Corps / Roscommon / KIA 3-10-67)
SP4 Michael Smith (Army / Cavan / KIA 3-18-67)
Cpl Patrick Gallagher (Marine Corps / Mayo / KIA 3-30-67)
Sgt First Class Edward Howell (Army / Dublin / KIA 4-17-67)
PFC Maurice O'Callaghan (Marine Corps / Dublin / KIA 4-21-67)
PFC John Collopy (Army / Limerick / KIA 7-15-67)
SP4 Edward Scully (Army / Cork / KIA 11-13-67)
Capt. Edmond Landers (Army / Tipperary / KIA 5-15-68)
1/Lt Anthony O'Reilly (Army / Galway / KIA 6-3-68)
Cpl Philip Bancroft (Marine Corps / Belfast / KIA 9-30-68)
Cpl Sean Doran (Army / Dublin / KIA 3-28-69)
L/Cpl Peter Nee (Marine Corps / Connemara / KIA 3-31-69)
1/Lt John Driver (Army / Dublin / KIA 4-17-69)
