Goodbye Danny pg2

- continued from page one

During the fund raising campaign for the Monuments to Canadian Fallen in 2000, Dan Bordeleau rallied veterans in the Ottawa area and raised some $15,000. For that contribution his Unit received a Grand Donor’s Award entitling them to send a representative to the Monument unveiling ceremony. It was held in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan on November 11, 2001 .

Dan was sent over and took his wife Lila, with him.

As a special honour Dan was taken to an outpost on the DMZ that directly overlooks the Samichon River and the tributary leading up to the Warsaw, which was about four kilometers distant.

Lila Bordeleau and Dan pose for camera with General Paik Sun-yup, former Chief of Staff of the ROK Army during the Korean War and first Chairman of the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Paik also served as Korea’s Ambassador to Canada and to France. He told Danny that he preferred Canada .

Although he had long suffered with severe eye problems, Dan looked to his right up the Samichon and identified Hill 355 about nine kilometers away, then looked up the narrow valley in front of him and pointed.

“There she is,” he said. “There’s theWarsaw . Six killed and eight wounded.”

In Busan, both Danny, Henry Martinak of the Windsor KVA Unit and Kenneth Blampied, then KVA national president, all were presented with Korean War Service Medals – the so-called Syngman Rhee Medal – by a ROK Air Force General.

The awards had been approved by Korea’s Ministry of Defence and were presented on behalf of General Paik Sun-yup, who was the chairman of the Korean War Commemoration Committee of Korea. General Paik is perhaps the most famous Korean soldier of modern time. He was a Division commander in the early days of the war at age 30. He rose to become chief of staff of the ROK Army during the war and later was appointed Korea’s first Chief of the Combined Staffs.

General Paik could not attend the small investiture ceremony because he was obliged on that day to meet with former President George Bush, who was visiting Korea.

However, General Paik later attended a small dinner at the United Nations Command Officers Mess in Seoul that was held in the honour of Danny, Henry Martinak and Ken Blampied.

General Paik shook all of their hands, congratulated them on the award of the medal and thanked them for their service to his country. They are probably the only three Canadians who received the medal directly from the Korean Ministry of Defence and there should be no quibbling about their right to wear it.

While they were in Korea Danny and Lila did their Christmas shopping along the famed Insadong Street, which is the home to many quality art galleries. Queen Elizabeth shopped there during her Royal Tour of Korea in 1999. The Bordeleaus bought exotic gifts for many family members.

They also went to nearby Chogyesa Buddhist Temple, where Lila burned incense for their daughter, who was ailing in Canada .

Before he left Canada to make the trip to Korea that time Dan had telephoned somebody at the Canadian Embassy in Seoul and said, “You have never met my wife, Lila. You will be very proud of her.”

In that Danny was most right. She was a fine representative for Canada at all of the functions – as he and his two comrades were – including a special visit to the Blue House, which is the White House of Korea.

The group was specially escorted by a young major in the special police detail assigned to guard President Kim Dae-jung.

Danny’s brother Gerald died many years ago. He owned an over-the-road long distance trucking company in the United States .

Dan had stayed in service and transferred to the Canadian Intelligence Corps. He retired as a warrant officer and then served with an RCMP commission and later with the Department of Indian Affairs.

Danny and Lila made their home in Ottawa, where both passed away.

His achievements as a member of KVA Canada were so profuse that it would take pages to define them. He was deservedly awarded that organization’s Distinguished Service Star.

He was among the first Korean War Veterans to be awarded the Veterans Affairs Canada Minister’s Citation for honourable, outstanding service.

He cut a heroic figure wherever he went and was well received by two Canadian Ambassadors and their defence attaches on his two post war visits to Korea.

He was very active in liaison with the Korean Embassy in Ottawa for several years and also well received and liked by a succession of Korean ambassadors and military attaches.

In 2003, shortly before Her Excellency Governor General Adrienne Clarkson left Ottawa on a state visit, she invited Danny and 11 other Korean War Veterans to take tea with her at Rideau Hall. One of the guests was BGen Christopher Snyder, who had been a second lieutenant with the 3rd PPCLI in Korea where he earned a Military Cross.

Let us say of Danny that he was a proud Canadian. A proud son of Canada who served his country well in two wars – and until the day he died.

Vince Courtenay played a major role in establishing and siting the two Monuments to Canadian Fallen in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan and in Ottawa . The ceremony for the dedication of the Monument in Ottawa saw more than 1,100 Korean War Veterans gather for a march past in review by Prime Minister Jean Chretien.
After serving in Korea with 3 PPCLI Vince spent many years in journalism in the United States as an editor with The Detroit News, managing editor of the Dearborn Michigan Press and as correspondent with Time, Business Week, McGraw-Hill World News and other publications and worked in New York City and Washington, DC. He also worked for CBC (TV) and was an advertising and public relations consultant to Chevrolet Division of General Motors, Chrysler-Plymouth Sales, Rockwell International, Allied-Signal Corporation, Hutchinson SA of Paris, Thyssen AG of Munich and other major corporations. He also has served as Korean Correspondent for Ward's Automotive, a leading publisher of world automotive industry news.

Goodbye Danny! first appeared in Korean War Veteran, an independent Internet magazine edited by Vince Courtenay and his wife, Mak-ye. The publication is available without cost by sending an e-mail to Koreavetnews@aol.com.