‘I hope that some of the young people are becoming aware of the military as a viable (career) option,’ says local senior, whose service took her to Middle East
Sitting in a quiet library at a south-Barrie retirement home, Pam Stewart-Burgoyne looks back on her time in Canada’s military as a young woman and shares her thoughts on the significance of Remembrance Day, which is being observed today.
Stewart-Burgoyne, 73, has lived at the Chartwell Allandale Station Retirement Residence on Yonge Street for six years now after moving from Sudbury.
Born in northern Ontario, she joined the military there in 1975 while the Cold War was still ongoing.
“My first posting was out in Nova Scotia, in Dartmouth,” she recalls. “And I have nothing but good to say about the military. I had a really good career and had wonderful experiences.”
After graduating from college, Stewart-Burgoyne wasn’t sure what to do next.
“I saw the recruiting office in downtown Sudbury and I thought, ‘Oh, there’s a thought.’ And I shocked everybody,” she explains.
No one in her family had served in the military before.
Was there something specific that attracted her to joining?
“I can’t say that there was, just a career opportunity, I guess,” Stewart-Burgoyne admits. “It was just a thought that this is something that I could do.”
She went through all the usual steps for new recruits and then studied finance before graduating from that program.
After her time in Nova Scotia, Stewart-Burgoyne moved on to a military base in Quebec.
Before long, she found herself deployed overseas to Egypt as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force following the Six-Day War.
The Six-Day War occurred in 1967 between Israel and several Arab nations including Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from June 5 to June 10.
Canada began its peacekeeping role there in 1973 with the United Nations Emergency Force II (UNEF II) until 1979. During their missions in Egypt under UNEF forces, over 50 Canadians lost their lives due mostly to accidents or illnesses related to land mines.
The deadliest day for Canadian peacekeepers happened on August 9, 1974 when a Canadian transport aircraft was shot down by a Syrian missile during resupply operations; all nine Canadians onboard were killed.
“That was a six-month tour and the opportunities while I was there were amazing,” Stewart-Burgoyne recalls. “They made sure that you got out and about so you could see faces; it was quite an experience.”
Still, some moments were frightening for her.
“I remember driving through the Israeli desert on a paycheque trip where I had to reach these guys for payments. It didn’t matter that land mines were everywhere; you just did what you were supposed to do,” Stewart-Burgoyne remembers.
She feels thankful for those experiences because they allowed her to witness parts of the world where people had no idea how different life could be compared to hers. She adds that it made them realize how fortunate they were living in Canada.”
Stewart-Burgoyne believes Canada doesn’t get many chances to promote peace globally.
“Unfortunately,” she says,”there are still many countries not interested at all in maintaining peace. I’m very proud of Lester Pearson and his team. They did right by us. They did right by Canada.”
Lester B. Pearson served as Canada’s prime minister from 1963-1968 and is considered “the father of modern peacekeeping” because he helped establish UN peacekeeping forces starting with their deployment during Suez Crisis actions leading up into UNEF efforts aimed at de-escalating tensions following conflicts like those seen earlier between Arabs & Israelis since then – ultimately winning him recognition via Nobel Peace Prize awarded back then too!
This solidified Canada’s role regarding international matters relating directly towards humanitarian efforts intended behind helping others worldwide – leading thousands more Canadians eventually joining future UN missions subsequently thereafter!
A total eleven-year span spent serving led Stewart-burgoine traveling across various regions globally such as Greece along side Egypt amongst others!”
“I went everywhere,”she proudly states;
A choice made later gave way into family formation alongside husband Malcolm who also dedicated time serving under armed forces himself having been an army transport officer spanning over two decades prior until passing away recently two years ago now”.’
‘Military service isn’t only important but rather wise considering today’s job market especially given recent announcements increasing personnel salaries substantially! “
‘I hope some young folks realize this can be great path forward too!’ Stewar-burgoine expressed enthusiastically sharing insights gained during past experiences attending military colleges offering education benefits covered entirely throughout entirety attending university afterwards!’ ””
“
This indeed paved successful journeys ahead countless ambitious individuals hailing back originally coming forth from Sudbury so many years previously!!” ““
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