Grandfather's Memoirs – RCNVR, 1940-1945 (HMCS Drumheller,Sudbury,Haida,Huron)

[frau kaleun]

Finally she called and told me she had found all of my files, and that I was registered as being in the navy, but never discharged. I figured that I must be rather rich after all of those years of back pay, but she simply laughed and said "Rich? On navy pay?"

When I finally got my papers, someone had written in a date of discharge -- the date of the Japanese surrender. However, my 2343 papers were not given to me. Holly told me that in order to obtain them, I needed to prove that I was who I claimed to be. I would have to produce my birth certificate (which stated I was born in Walkerville, a town that no longer exists, eighty years ago). I talked to Holly's superior and was able to work out a compromise: I would need to appear before a judge and swear, before witnesses, that I was who I said I was. So on a Tuesday, at the usual post-meeting Men's Club luncheon, I appeared in front of my friend, a judge, held my hand up, and swore to my identity. It seemed silly, but I got my 2343 papers.

Lol. As my ex-Navy physics teacher used to say... "Close enough for government work!"

That is PRICELESS.

Thank you and please thank your grandfather for sharing his experiences with you so you could share them here.