Service To The Nation

Back in May I made a stop at the Canadian War Museum, where a temporary exhibit was up in the central hub, profiling black Canadians in military service down through time.

This was done in cooperation with a museum in the Niagara area and a historical society in Nova Scotia. After the American Revolution, black Loyalists came north, and escaped slaves, making new lives in the Canadian colonies.

This is part of the citation for Stephen Thomas, who won the Medal of Bravery during the Afghan War.

Richard Pierpoint had been enslaved as a teen, but gained his freedom fighting as part of Butler's Rangers during the Revolution. He settled in Canada after that war, and served again in the War of 1812. The Coloured Corps was a militia of black volunteers who organized during that latter war.

William John Chandler went south during the Civil War to fight for the Union, losing an arm in the process, but returned to Canada and lived a long life with his family. John Bright fought in the ferociousness of World War One at places like Mount-Sorrel and Passchendaele, killed in action in the last year of that war.

Connie and Kathleen Brown were sisters who went to war in the Second World War in support roles in the Canadian military. Junius Hokan was one of Canada's first black pilots in that war, but never made it home.

David Johnson fought in the Korean War and went on to serve afterwards. Stephen Thomas served with distinction in the Afghan War.

There is a rich black history in Nova Scotia, starting with the Loyalists after the American Revolution.

William Hall was serving with a British naval gun crew in India and won the Victoria Cross for his bravery under fire. Jeremiah Jones enlisted in the First World War at a time when most men would be looking to retire, and saw action at Vimy Ridge.

The No. 2 Construction Battalion was made up of black men during the First World War, doing physical labour. They faced prejudice and neglect throughout. William White, whose parents had been enslaved, was their chaplain and advocate for fair treatment.

In recent years, the government made a point of a formal apology to the men of the No. 2 Construction Battalion.

Minnie Gray served during the Second World War in the Canadian Women's Army Corps, and ended up going into healthcare. Allan Bundy became a pilot during that war for the RCAF.

Joseph Niles saw service during the Korean War. Leo Vemb was more recent, seeing thirty years of service in places like Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan.

The Victoria Pioneer Rifle Corps was made up of free African-Americans at the invitation of the governor to settle on Vancouver Island in the 19th century. Ebenezer Mortimer, who had played baseball professionally, went to war in 1939, and was thought to have died in combat, but returned home in 1943. Samuel Watts was the first black Canadian from central Alberta to enlist in the Great War, but would not return home.