Edward Moczulski of Kitchener was one of the oldest veterans to attend the 27th annual Thank-A-Vet Luncheon on Saturday in Brantford.
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Originally from Poland, the 99-year-old shared how he was taken from his homeland to spend a few years in a concentration camp in Siberia under Joseph Stalin’s rule.
“After liberation (when the Nazis were approaching Russia) we were organized into the 2nd Polish Corps,” he said. “We went from Russia to the Middle East, North Africa, Sicily and Italy.”
Serving as a Private, Moczulski said the main objective was Monte Cassino in 1944.
“The 2nd Polish Corps fought the battle and achieved victory on the road to Rome. It was hard to break through, and we paid the price,” he stated. “After Monte Cassino we were fighting Germans on the Adriatic side of Italy up to the last battle in Bologna.”
Once the war ended, he spent a few years in England before coming to Toronto in 1949 at his sister’s invitation. Later, he moved to Kitchener where he worked as a maintenance electrician at tire manufacturer BF Goodrich.
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Moczulski said he has attended the annual Thank-A-Vet Luncheon many times.
“It’s a nice place to meet friends, but your friends from that era are getting few.”
Joseph Lesky of Brantford joined the 56th Field Regiment at the age of 16 and served for a total of 43 years, retiring with the rank of Captain.
“I volunteered to go to Germany in 1971 and served with the First Royal Canadian Horse Artillery in Germany and France during the Cold War,” said the 82-year-old veteran. “I also spend an extra ten years on what they call supplementary reserve.”
Lesky said he comes quite regularly to the luncheon.
“The comradeship is very good, the food and service is excellent, and it’s a good opportunity to meet up with old and new friends,” Lesky noted, “It’s very well organized.”
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Brantford city councilor Richard Carpenter — a board member of the Thank-A-Vet Luncheon committee – said he has respect for veterans because they keep democracy alive.
“I started at the post office when I was 17 and everyone that worked to deliver mail was a veteran,” he observed. “So, I’ve had tremendous respect for veterans from Day 1. We would get together and they’d tell me real-life stories, and I have never missed a day at the cenotaph for that reason.
“These veterans keep us free and it means the world to me.”
Hundreds of veterans ranging from the Second World War to more recent conflicts were joined by their spouses and local dignitaries – totaling 190 — to fill several long tables set out in the cafeteria at Assumption College School.
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“The number of vets has diminished. We’re down to the 50 or 60 range,” said luncheon co-chair Dave Levac. “We’re getting to the point now where the remaining ones are mostly Korean, and from Six Nations there are quite a few that served in Vietnam.
“The rest are the 56th (Field Regiment). Honestly, they hesitate because they don’t want themselves compared to vets from the old wars because they’re so much younger, and don’t want to take away from honoring them,” he explained. “We’re trying to convince them to start participating because we believe they are veterans as well.”
Levac said he couldn’t see not doing the annual event because of the life the veterans gave us and protected us from.
“It’s simply respect,” he said. “We don’t do this for any other reason than to bring honor and respect and memory of those individuals who sacrificed everything.”
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