1

Heroism is not a memory of the past. It is the virtue by which a nation can preserve its identity and fulfill its destiny.
- Donald Creighton,
Historian

2

From the beginning the title of this project has been problematic. As a project the thought of honoring those who served is a worthy concept, but mention the word heroes and you get some heated responses....

3

Ronald Edwin Buxton
1942
Formal Military Portrait

4

'I do hope that there is no way that I am going to be portrayed as a hero, because I'm not...I joined the military and that was it. There were heroes that come out of the war obviously but not everybody that joined did so to become a hero, or were a hero.'

'At that time there ws the prospect also I think that this nasty little man Hitler if he was successful in Europe he would come to England and to every Englishman I think at that time the thought was abhorrent that our little island should be home to a monster of that sort.'

5

Eswyn Lyster on parade with WRENS
1941
England

6

'Heroes...you've got the wrong one here. I think the heroes were the people who were called to the bomb sites and had to dig out people who were dying or dead or...had to see the awful things that most civilians unless they were in an incident...I hate that word, incident, it makes it sound so nothing but that was the term.'

7

Marjorie Leffler in Women's Division of the Air Corp
1942
Formal Military Portrait

8

'...It's not heroes, its just being a sense of, what, a sense of responsibility, not letting the world pass you by.'

'You go to school with these kids, and they're not really heroes, they're not heroes, they join up and they become heroes, many of them, but and to many it was the big adventure of their lives.'

9

Robert Cato with granddaughter at Remembrance Day Service
1990
Victoria, British Columbia

10

He certainly didn't see himself as a hero and he still doesn't today.
The moments that Robert Cato remembers as heroic were the times when the war was forgotten for a few seconds and one man acted to save another's life, regardless of which side of the conflict they were on.

11

Sheridan (Pat) Patterson with driver Bill
1951
Korea

12

When asked if he knew of a hero or had seen any heroic acts in Korea, he gave a kind of half laugh and replied emphatically 'No.' But when asked for suggestions for another title for this project he quickly replied, 'For Services Rendered', because that's all we were doing...our jobs.'