Tom Slater and Tom St. Amand
For 62 years, Jack Graham never discussed his wartime experiences.
The memory was simply too painful.
A soldier with the Essex Scottish regiment, Graham was one of nearly 2,000 Canadians captured at Dieppe in 1942. During his 34 months as a prisoner of war in four different German stalags, the 22-year-old from Sarnia had plenty of time to reflect.
On the blood-stained water of Dieppe, on the eight hours of hell on the beach, and on his own situation.
The Germans used twine to bind the “Dieppers” wrists for six months, forced them to march, and fed them meagre rations of black bread and turnip soup.
When he was finally liberated, the 6′ foot 2” Graham weighed just 100 pounds.
He also had time to think of Doris, a young woman in the RAF he had met in England. And he thought often of his parents back in Sarnia, Arthur and Florence, and of his brothers, Bill and Lloyd, who were also serving in the war.
Jack Graham knew of the turmoil his parents suffered back home with three boys away at war, and they remained his heroes for the rest of his life.
When the war in Europe ended, things changed dramatically for Graham. He returned to England and married Doris in June 1945, beginning a 66-year union that produced three children: Lynne, Lloyd and Marsha.
He also learned both his brothers had been killed in action.
Graham’s war years soon became a subject off limits, hidden behind a door that remained closed as he worked in Sarnia and supported a growing family.
Once, he objected when Doris had cooked turnip for a meal, daughter Marsha said. On another occasion, Marsha recalled, she and her brother opening a large tin box that held their father’s diaries, medals, and other war effects.
He told them to close it immediately.
Yet his nearly three years spent in the camps somehow never soured Jack Graham’s outlook. Far from it. He enjoyed life — his children, his grandchildren, his great-grandchildren and ballroom and square dancing.
And on every Remembrance Day he would wear a blue jacket pinned with medals, carry a sign that read “Remember Dieppe,” and pay his respects at the cenotaph.
But he never discussed his own wartime experiences.
And then, one day in 2004, his great-grandson Garrett brought home a Grade 3 “Show and Share” assignment. The boy had drawn a picture of his hero, his great-grandfather, in his soldier’s uniform and shown it to classmates. Intrigued, his teacher asked the family if Garrett’s hero would consider talking to the class.
After six decades, Jack Graham finally decided to break his silence. The younger generation had no connection to the war and they deserved to learn about it so they wouldn’t forget, he reasoned.
After that, he was asked to speak to another class, and, until he passed away in 2011, Jack Graham never really stopped.
He wore a poppy every day and brought extras for those not wearing one on Remembrance Day. He posted “Remember Dieppe” signs throughout Veterans’ Park. He spoke to service clubs, to church groups and at different schools.
And his message never varied: those who fought for our freedom and those who perished doing so must always be remembered. He reserved the last part of each talk for his parents, his personal heroes.
Marsha Guthrie still treasures the sketch Garrett did of his great-grandfather, which her father was so proud of he had it laminated.
Those who were fortunate enough to have known Jack Graham are the proud ones, and they will never forget him.