A soldier died today.
Harold Oliver Jackson, 22 June 1919 - 31 July 2013
My great uncle Harold was one of the greatest men that I have ever had the honour to have known. When his nation found itself at war, he left the family farm near Dundalk Ontario and offered his service to his country at the age of 23. He was sent to North Africa at first and then into Italy where he joined the Carleton and York Regiment. In Italy he took part in some of the fiercest fighting of the war. He took part in the fight to capture Ortona, the battle for the Hitler Line, and was injured for the first time in Remini. He redeployed to western Europe in April 1945 with the rest of the division, and lost his leg to a mine in Holland in the closing days of the war.
He returned home in July 1945, and taught himself to walk on crutches while on the hospital ship back to Canada because he refused to be carried off. Harold lived the rest of his life to the fullest. He married his wife Bertha and the two of them were blessed with a beautiful family; many of whom were by his side when he passed away.
I am thankful for all of the visits that I was able to share with him and the many stories which he entrusted to me. I will always be thankful and will never forget the price that he, and many others like him, paid.
"If we cannot do him honor while he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage at the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple headline in a paper that would say,
Our Country is in mourning, for a soldier died today." - A. Lawrence Vaincourt
Harold Oliver Jackson, 22 June 1919 - 31 July 2013
My great uncle Harold was one of the greatest men that I have ever had the honour to have known. When his nation found itself at war, he left the family farm near Dundalk Ontario and offered his service to his country at the age of 23. He was sent to North Africa at first and then into Italy where he joined the Carleton and York Regiment. In Italy he took part in some of the fiercest fighting of the war. He took part in the fight to capture Ortona, the battle for the Hitler Line, and was injured for the first time in Remini. He redeployed to western Europe in April 1945 with the rest of the division, and lost his leg to a mine in Holland in the closing days of the war.
He returned home in July 1945, and taught himself to walk on crutches while on the hospital ship back to Canada because he refused to be carried off. Harold lived the rest of his life to the fullest. He married his wife Bertha and the two of them were blessed with a beautiful family; many of whom were by his side when he passed away.
I am thankful for all of the visits that I was able to share with him and the many stories which he entrusted to me. I will always be thankful and will never forget the price that he, and many others like him, paid.
"If we cannot do him honor while he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage at the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple headline in a paper that would say,
Our Country is in mourning, for a soldier died today." - A. Lawrence Vaincourt
