One of the few remaining Metis war veterans of the Korean War (1950-1953) reflected on his time in Korea and wants to give those he served with the recognition they deserve for helping protect Canadians from the forces of totalitarianism in the twentieth century.
Armand Buors, 93, who grew up in St. Laurent, served for over a year with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) in the Korean War, which saw totalitarian regimes threaten democratic government and end with the deaths of 3 million people.
Buors said he made lots of friends during his service in Korea and thinks about them and the war often.
“The ones I served with over there are all gone,” said Buors, who now lives in the Rural Municipality of Woodlands. “Everyone is gone. I’m the only one left here. There is probably some in Ontario, some in Winnipeg or wherever but from this area [I’m the only one].”
Buors was born in 1931 during the Great Depression. His father was of French descent and his mother was Metis from the Lambert family. Buors was eldest of 16 children, of whom 12 are still living. His cousin is baseball player Claude Lambert, who played in the major leagues and was inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame. As a kid, Buors helped family members with winter ice fishing on Lake Manitoba before heading off to Snow Lake to work in the mines.
Express Photos by Patricia Barrett
Buors enlisted in the army in April 1951, about a week before his 20th birthday.
“I was [working] in the mine in Snow Lake then I came to Winnipeg and I met one of my friends,” said Buors. “He says, ‘I’m going to Fort Osborne to enlist.’ He says, ‘You’re going to come with me. I said, ‘I’m going.’ So I went,” said Buors. “Just an ordinary job, I thought. You don’t know what you get in to. I had an idea because I was in the reserves before in Churchill in 1948, 1949.”
Buors served with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) in Korea. The friend who got Buors to enlist did join the army after training. The Fort Osborne Barracks served as a recruitment and training centre, but Buors said he did most of his training in Calgary then was sent by train to Vancouver then Seattle, Washington, where PPCLI troops boarded a ship to Japan.
The Korean War started on June 25, 1950, after troops from communist North Korea invaded the southern half of the country.
Express Photos by Patricia Barrett
Korea had been divided at the 38th parallel at the end of the Second World War (1939-1945) as part of a Russian-American arrangement for accepting the surrender of Japanese forces in Korea. The government of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) was established in 1948 and recognized by the UN as the only valid government in the country. The northern part of the country was a Soviet-sponsored state known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and recognized only by communist powers, according to a 1956 publication titled “Canada’s Army in Korea: The United Nations Operations 1950-53 and Their Aftermath” by the Canadian army headquarters’ historical branch.
Although it was a United Nations’ operation, with member countries such as Turkey, Greece, Great Britain, Australia and Belgium taking part, the U.S. provided leadership and the lion’s share of operations.
In August 1950 a Canadian Army special force was created for service in Korea. An advance party of about 350 Canadian military personnel sailed from Seattle in the latter part of October 1950 to prepare for action. And the Princess Patricia’s 2nd battalion, which was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel J. R. Stone, was selected to serve in Korea.
“The Patricia’s left Seattle on 25 November, aboard the American troopship Pvt Joe P. Martinez, and arrived at Pusan on 18 December,” states the 1956 report. “Here they ‘staged’ [assembled] for nine days then moved to Miryang, between Pusan and Taegu.”
Buors has good sea legs and tolerated the ocean-faring journey quite well.
“Lots of people got sick, oh,” he said. “If I felt a little woozy, I would go on the deck.”
When he landed in Japan, Buors said he thinks he was in Sasebo (an island) before crossing over to Korea. And at some point – either in Japan or in Korea – his unit boarded a train.
“There were kids running along the train there, so I gave them my sandwich. They were little kids and they were hungry,” said Buors.
He recalls the train taking them through a long tunnel in which they had to close the windows to stop the fumes from coming into the compartments.
When they got off the train, they weren’t told where they were.
“We walked for quite a while during the night. It was pouring rain there, and they say, ‘OK, now you bed down.’ So we threw our ground sheets on the ground and put up a little tent,” he said. “There was no camp. I never went in a camp [in Korea]. But there might have been camps somewhere. I know there was field hospitals along the road.”
The Patricia’s carried out anti-guerilla patrols in which they dispersed enemy parties, seized caches of weapons, destroyed enemy bunkers, repulsed attacks and steadily moved north to drive the North Koreans back across the border, the 38th parallel.
Buors said he got as far as the border where his company set up a patrol. Because he could speak French, he was chosen for some reconnaissance missions.
“They use to send us at night to the outpost, what they called the little dead valley. That’s where they [North Korean military] cross every time,” said Buors. “They did send me and another Frenchman. And there was a corporal who was French so we’d report to him in French instead of English. Maybe more confusing [in case the enemy was spying on us].”
They later found out that North Korean soldiers were hiding in a rice paddy.
“They were underneath the sheaves. They were a long way but you could see they were not [staying] in the same place,” said Buors.
Korea is a mountainous region and the Patricia’s fought in the hills, where the geography formed a natural line of defence that communist forces took advantage of. They had to endure all kinds of weather, from bitter cold and snow to extreme heat.
Buors said he lived outside the entire time he was in Korea, in tents at outset then in trenches, and existed mainly on canned rations with the occasional hot meal when things were relatively quiet. The soldiers had Korean civilians with them, typically young children who carried out chores such as carrying water or ammunition.
Buors was posted back to Fort Osborne after he completed his rotation of service in Korea, and he worked in the barracks before earning an honourable discharge.
Express Photos by Patricia Barrett
“I was waiting on my discharge and they gave me a job in the office,” said Buors. “I reported to the sergeant every morning and he would send me to get files. By mid-morning he said your day is finished.”
After miliary life, Buors returned to St. Laurent where he helped his uncle fish then took on various occupations before finding a job with the City of Winnipeg’s operations department.
“I worked 30 years for City of Winnipeg. I started in 1956 until 1986, working mainly in water and sewer operations,” he said.
Looking back to the war and having had decades to reflect on it, Buors said he doesn’t want to get “too deep” into it, but he feels proud for having served Canada and for having made a difference in protecting our democratic freedoms and way of life.
“To me it was just a natural job. Proud to be in the army, of course,” he said. “[People] thank me for the service I did for them.”
The war ended with an armistice on July 27, 1953. Three million people died and there were tens of thousands of casualties. Buors said Korean civilians suffered tremendously. Farmers and rural people had to abandon their land and crops when the north invaded.
Over 26,000 Canadians served in the Korean War on land, at sea and in the air, with 516 having lost their lives.
Buors’ family is proud of his war service in defence of Canada and the democratic freedoms we enjoy today.
“We as a family are proud. We don’t know much about it, but we’re proud of my dad’s service,” said Buors’ son on behalf of the family.
It’s unclear how many Metis Korean War veterans are still alive – and exactly how many served Canada in the First, Second and Korean wars, according to the Canadian Geographic Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada. But Metis from across the Metis Nation enlisted in the Canadian military in large numbers.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have exact enlistment figures for these Metis soldiers because they were not allowed to self-identify as Metis,” states the Atlas.
Buors said there was little recognition for their efforts at the time from Canada, but he did receive a number of medals. He also received recognition from the South Korean government.
Metis war veterans and other service personnel from St. Laurent are being honoured by the St. Laurent Royal Canadian Legion Metis Branch #250. The Legion created large banners with veterans’ names and photos to honour their service to Canada. The banners are displayed on hydro poles along St. Laurent Veteran’s Memorial Road (the old highway) between the town and Twin Lakes Beach, as well as along Twin Lakes Beach Road.
Janet Stevenson, director of the Manitoba Metis Federation’s Red River Metis Veterans Department, said they’re proud of the Metis from St. Laurent who served the country.
“We are very proud of the Metis Veterans from St. Laurent that are honoured on the banners along Veteran’s Memorial Road,” said Stevenson.
There are “significant gaps” in Red River Metis history with regard to Metis service in the Canadian Armed Forces, said Stevenson. There have been no studies or surveys to date to identify the number of Metis who served Canada – they were unable to declare their identity when enlisting – and that contributed to discrimination when they returned home to their families.
“However, the [MMF’s] Red River Metis Veterans Department has initiated a project called the Red River Metis Veteran Archive, which will document the history of past and present veterans in our community and identify the needs of our modern Red River Metis Veterans, active serving members and their families,” said Stevenson. “This project will help us learn more about our Red River Metis military history and improve supports for this important demographic, as well as inform the MMF’s advocacy efforts on their behalf.”
To that end, the MMF is encouraging Red River Metis veterans and family members of late Red River Metis veterans to participate in the archive project.
For more details about the project, people can contact: rrmvreception@mmf.mb.ca
