TISDALE 鈥� For Warrant Officer Sheridan G. Ellingson, Remembrance Day means getting together with comrades.
鈥淚t starts with making plans, getting in touch with somebody I want to be with, someone I worked with, but doesn鈥檛 focus just being around guys I know,鈥� said Ellingson, who had earned a Canadian Forces鈥� Decoration after 12 years of service. 鈥淚t always ends with new guys who also serve and ask them their experiences, talk to them about how they鈥檙e doing now.鈥�
Born in Moose Jaw, Ellingson was 18 years old when he joined Princess Patricia鈥檚 Canadian Light Infantry in 1989.聽
鈥淚 don鈥檛 have one specific memory of why,鈥� Ellingson said. 鈥淎t the time in the 鈥�80s in Saskatchewan, in my view and what I heard from adults was there wasn鈥檛 a lot of career jobs happening and the economy was slow. I always liked to do things physically and be challenged.鈥�
He got his wish, doing field work like soldiering, rifling, bayonets and machine guns.
鈥淓very job has its pros and cons, it鈥檚 hard. Lots of times you鈥檙e wondering what you鈥檙e doing at a certain point in your life, but I鈥檓 sure everybody鈥檚 job and career has the same thing.鈥�
Basic training took place in Cornwallis, N.S. for 10 weeks. Next Ellingson had 16 weeks of training in Wainwright, Alta.
This led to his first posting in Calgary, where he stayed for just a week before being sent to Norway for operation exercises with NATO for a month and a half.
After Norway he returned to Canada where he spent about a year training with regular battalion training.
It was about 1991 he was deployed overseas in Cyprus on a United Nations peacekeeping mission with the first battalion.
He continued to serve with the United Nations in Bosnia and Croatia, after which he returned to Canada for regular army training.
鈥淥ne thing people don鈥檛 realize in the military is when you鈥檙e in the army, you鈥檙e never not training. It鈥檚 like university: the kid goes to school for three or four years and then learns stuff when they get to the job 鈥� same thing.鈥�
When a new base opened in Edmonton, his unit was moved there.
Ellingson said he noticed that after Bosnia and Croatia the military expanded.
鈥淭he base in Edmonton absorbed a lot of money from the federal government and it鈥檚 what this army needed, or our western army needed anyway. We got it going pretty good there.鈥�
In 1999, his battalion was deployed in Kosovo, Ellingson stayed back in Canada doing rear party support. His next deployment was in 2002, back in Bosnia with NATO.
In 2004, he was posted to be an instructor in Wainwright for five years.
鈥淚 would rather have been in Edmonton because my battalion in 2006 went to Afghanistan and I can say without me because I did 15 years with that battalion,鈥� Ellingson said. 鈥淭hat was the first offense combat mission Canada did since the Korean War鈥� I say I missed it, but that was probably not a bad thing anyway.鈥�
Ellingson鈥檚 career ended at his 20 year mark in July 2009 when he was medically discharged due to a back injury.
That summer he moved to Tisdale with his family, where he lives today.
Ellingson said open communication between veterans and currently serving armed forces members is important to him.
鈥淪ome guys will talk to anybody about any experience, and it鈥檚 not being specific about details, it鈥檚 just about opening up and saying, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e in the military now, you鈥檙e an accepted member, you鈥檙e a brother, we鈥檙e here to support you, what do you want to know? What can we do to help?鈥欌��
When Ellingson was a serving member, he said he never made the effort to open that communication, a regret he now has.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard, and I get it now. We want to talk to younger guys, but when I was a younger guy, private corporal in the military on Remembrance Day I didn鈥檛 want to talk to the older veterans. Not that I didn鈥檛 want to, I didn鈥檛 want to make the effort. It鈥檚 kind of overwhelming, you don鈥檛 know if you鈥檙e overstepping your bounds, if they don鈥檛 want to talk to you.鈥�
Ellingson recalled being a young guy in Edmonton, with a Legion hall filled with thousands and only hundreds of those were currently serving members.
鈥淪ome of them were very open to talk but I didn鈥檛 take the initiative to step in and hear a lot of stories 鈥� I鈥檓 talking about Second World War, First World War, Korean Vets,鈥� he said. 鈥淸I] never took too much time to get to know a lot of people, looking back I wish I would have. I know now from this end we love that idea to talk to young guys and hear what the army is doing nowadays.鈥�
Back in his own service, Ellingson found himself hesitating, partially because he didn鈥檛 know what was appropriate to say, partially because of the social distinction made between peacetime soldiers and World War soldiers.
This changed when a veteran, Ernest Alvia 鈥淪mokey鈥� Smith, approached him in 1997. He had served in the Second World War.
鈥淗e had all the time in the world to talk to us. I was just a member of a group of a small group of guys listening to him,鈥� Ellingson said. 鈥淗e talked to us and invited us into parties we shouldn鈥檛 even be into because he鈥檚 a VC [Victoria鈥檚 Cross] winner and I said, 鈥榟ey this is a pretty good guy, right?鈥欌��
To keep this connection going, Ellingson suggested both current serving members and veterans get out in the community and make themselves known.
鈥淚 think what they should do is get out on Remembrance Day, be seen. I know some don鈥檛, for their own reasons and that鈥檚 their right. Get out, be seen and make yourself available. In a small community like we live here in Tisdale鈥� I can say that I was asked a lot of good questions about who I was and where I鈥檇 been and stuff because I have five medals on my chest.鈥�
If someone wants to talk to someone about their service, Ellingson said to ask them, 鈥淲here鈥檇 you serve? What branch were you in? What unit were you in?鈥�
He said that this opens the communication and allows them to share what they want to share, while not pressing on details they may not want to talk about.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we start with ourselves. When we鈥檙e in a room and recognize another veteran and he鈥檚 not in uniform, okay, 鈥榃hat did you do? Who did you work with?鈥欌��
