John's Photo Album

This is a portrait I painted of my brother, John, on horseback. The source was a photo taken by his son Bill. John was living in Brooks, Alberta at the time and was 51 years old.

John’s Photo Album

“1932, here's little Jackie! He was seven months when this was taken. We were living in Saskatoon then. He was so cute! Look at those fat cheeks and that big crooked smile”. ‘Little Jackie’ was how my mother described my much older brother when talking about his early years. Mom had lovingly prepared photo albums for each of her three children. I had mine, but this was the first time I had seen Jack’s. It had a cover of hand tooled leather with a red maple leaf on the front. I didn’t have my glasses on so Mom offered a running commentary.

“Army Cadets. He felt so grown up in his uniform. I think he was ten here. Shortly after that your dad joined the Naval Reserves. When war was declared the Reserves were called up immediately. He was in signaling and was posted to the Race Rocks Light station south of Victoria. Jackie quit Army Cadets and joined Navy Cadets so he could be just like his father. We moved to Victoria so we could see your dad when he was on leave. Here you can see Jackie's pet chinchillas. They would crawl all over him. They were horrible!”

"Dad's ship 'The Sans Peur'. That means 'without fear' in French. Rum Ration. Dad is first in line to get his daily drink of rum from a large oak cask. Here they are rock climbing. It seems to go stright up. Look at them all sitting down to supper, it sure looks cramped."

"1946, Dennis joins the family. Here's you are sitting on Jack's knee. He was fifteen then. He was so happy to have a little brother. Look at you, arms and legs going in all directions."

"Scout camp. Jack had his own camera then. Look at all the pictures he took.
Dinner at camp. Making a grass mattress. Evening prayers. On a hike. Here they are at the swimming hole. Bare bums all in a row. Heading home. He loved scouting. He went on to become an Eagle Scout. He was so proud of that."

He was also very athletic and became a Gymnastic Leader at the Y.M.C.A. He would practice walking on his hands up and down the stairs at home. One miscalculation caused him to lose half of his front tooth.

Even decades later that chipped tooth was of concern to Mom. “Jack, you would look so much better if you were to get that tooth capped. Won’t you let me pay to have the dentist fix it?”

"Beauty and the beast. Here's Jack with his arm around your sister Claire. You were too young to remember her back then. She left home to get married when you were only three. Jack was so protective of his older sister. I heard of a few fights he got into when somone had said something about her."

During the summers he would work as a lifeguard at the Riversdale swimming pool. He was smart academically and good at track and field. There were, however, early signs of self-destructive behavior. Once, when Jack was competing in a one-mile foot race at high school, an official was raking a section of the track. Jack tripped over the rake. He had a nasty scrape on his knee that was bleeding and full of cinders. He hobbled off the track. Years later he questioned himself as to whether he tripped accidentally or on purpose. Was he afraid that he couldn’t win?

Not surprisingly, he was elected Senior Ring in his final year at the Saskatoon Technical Collegiate. Mid-term that same year he decided to leave Cadets and join the regular Canadian Navy, much to the disappointment of Mom and Dad who wanted him to remain in high school, at least until graduation.

"Royal Canadian Navy. He was stationed at H.M.C. Cornwallis, under Captain Pullen. He sailed on the HMCS Ontario."

“1949, San Diego. This is a picture of the Coronado Naval Base. He sent me a post card from there. He signed it ‘Love, John’. It seemed so strange to see that. He’ll always be my ‘Little Jackie’. This was his first trip away from home. Here you can see his ship going through the Panama Canal. I was so disappointed when I saw this next photo. He has a tattoo on his left arm. It's a three masted sailing ship with a ribbon below. On the ribbon is lettered India, 1951. He has another tattoo on his right thigh of a squirel. Why would he go and do such a thing? I hope you never get a tattoo! Promise me that you won't! Promise!"

"Mom, I promise!'

"Join the navy and see the world. He sure did that: Mexico, Puerto Refugio, swimming in Amortajada Bay in the Sea of Cortez; Jamaica, a family standing on their front porch, the little boy holding up a poison sting ray; Hawaii; Refuling at sea, it doesn't say where. Concert on the foc'sle, whatever that means."

Service in the Navy was a disaster. Much of his time was spent in the brig for fighting. He bragged that he caused a riot at the Mauna Loa Hotel in Honolulu. While on leave, after an afternoon of drinking, one remark from an American soldier brought a flurry of punches from John. Then, all hell broke loose. Chairs and tables were smashed as soldiers and sailors started fighting. John saw the police coming so he crawled under a table and out the side door. With police right behind him he climbed a trellis that went up the side of the hotel. Half way up it broke. There was such a tangle of vines, trellis and bodies that he was able to slip away in the confusion. He escaped the police but not the MPs aboard ship. He was back in the brig.

Following a dishonorable discharge, John returned home and worked a number of jobs. He drove a truck for the Co-op Dairy. That didn’t last long. Our uncle Ken was Circulation Manager for the Star-Phoenix newspaper. He was able to get John a truck-driving job delivering newspapers to stores and to neighborhood carriers. This worked out fine until John decided to take his girlfriend along for a ride. Instead of delivering papers they were making out in the back of the truck. Angry carriers and storeowners were on the phone to Uncle Ken asking where their newspapers were. That job ended badly and was very upsetting for my parents. It was a long time before my dad could look Uncle Ken in the eye. Which was especially hard on Dad because he didn't like Uncle Ken.

“Coach Bob Arn leads Saskatoon Hilltops to their first Canadian Championship in 1953. Jack was number twenty-seven and he played left guard. They nicknamed him ‘Hard Rock Cardiff’. Doesn’t he look handsome in his football uniform? This is the picture of him that they used in the newspaper. Here are pictures of some of his friends on the team. I don’t know their names but I remember some of them visiting the house. On a bus trip to Regina, to play the Blue Bombers, a tire blew right under Jack’s seat. He didn’t even wake up.”

After football season was over he traveled around. He worked on tugboats on the west coast. In Calgary he worked at a bakery. He did odd jobs when he could find them. When he couldn’t he lived on the streets. He went three days without eating and was ready to jump off a bridge when someone suggested to him that he join the army. This was 1953; the Canadian Army was looking for recruits. He would get three square meals a day and a uniform. The only problem was the dishonorable discharge from the Navy. Luckily, his prior service record didn’t catch up with him before he was shipped off to Korea with the 2nd Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) Of Canada . He was there from the 29th of October, 1953 to the 3rd of November 1954. His Military Service Number was SM10169.

“Camp in Korea. This picture must have been taken while he was on leave. Look at what that man is carrying on his head! The road sign says Inchon. These must be bathhouses, I can see English writing that says ‘wash’. Shop in Uijung Bu. Bombed out building in Seoul. Look, a traffic woman! I wouldn’t have expected that. Children, playing on a teeterboard. how sweet! Jack, showing off his muscles. He told me he isn't able to roll his shirtsleeves any more. He has to cut them. His arms are too big. He was Battalion weight lifting champion. He's doing a clean and jerk with two hundred and forty pounds. Korea to Seattle, then home”

I have photos of him and I together when he was home on leave. He is wearing a kilt and full army uniform. My head barely reaches his belt. As a gift he brought me a satin, reversible jacket. On one side was embroidered a map of Korea, on the other two eagles. That was the last I saw of him for a while.