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Local vet honoured

A Second World War veteran received a special honour ahead of his 100th birthday, coming up Sept. 28.
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Royal Canadian Legion Branch 97 honours and awards committee chairman Tom McConaghy presented Second World War veteran Gordon Young with a 70-year Legion Membership Pin on May 14.

A Second World War veteran received a special honour ahead of his 100th birthday, coming up Sept. 28.
Gordon Young, 99, was lauded for 71 years of membership in the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 97 at the May 14 honours and award ceremony and received a 70-year-membership pin.
“I didn’t realize it was that long,” he said. “The years just came and went. It’s a good organization, it’s been going for years.”
Young said he was on the ground crew around Bournemouth, England, for the Royal Air Force during the war, repairing heavy machine guns and preparing bombers for their daily assaults on Germany, often working 15-hour-plus days while doing his best to ignore the sirens blaring at all hours.
“I was a handyman, I guess you would say,” he said. “It was a rough couple of years, some really close days. There was lots of bombing in London.”
After serving four and a half years in the military, he joined the Legion with many of his peers and has been a member ever since.
Outside of his service, he took over his father’s farm near Dapp and grew a living.
“Farming was an interesting way to work for a living,” he said. “It was a good thing to do and I just kept going with it. I enjoyed it a lot.”
Legion branch manager Avril Campbell said Young first joined the Legion when Clyde still had an active branch and moved into the Westlock branch as the organization consolidated its resources.
“He’s doing well. I was pleasantly surprised at how well he was doing,” she said. “He’s not our longest member either.”
Legion president Dave Hall said Young’s contribution deserved to be recognized.
“He’s been a member of the legion for 70 years continuously,” he said. “Either with our branch or other branches. It’s our way of showing our appreciation and for their contribution to the community. Anyone who’s stayed in the legion for that long has been crucial in getting a lot of other legionnaires started up.”
Campbell said it was important to acknowledge their long-term members because they keep the Legion alive.
“People come and go, but the long-time members, the workers are what we really need,” she said.

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