BS: Uncle Chic

Subject: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 12 Mar 12 - 08:53 PM

He tones this down a lot. The real story(s) would sicken you.

And, there are a LOT more stories. I have begged my cousin Jim to get them recorded.

Tough as nails.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 12 Mar 12 - 09:12 PM

One thing he doesn't mention in the audio is that he got lost behind lines and a telegram was sent home that he was MIA and presumed dead... it was at least a week before he got back. He broke his back on the bike and still rode. He slept under trucks when he could find one to sleep under... sometimes in puddles in cold weather. He slept on the bike. He slept through terror. He's a good guy.

He's 90 and he's got cancer and things don't look all that great.

Thanks Chic.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: maeve
Date: 12 Mar 12 - 11:38 PM

Thanks very much, gnu. I'll have a good listen in the morning when I can turn the speakers on. I reckon TL will want to hear it, too.

You've got some tough family members.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 13 Mar 12 - 02:44 PM

There were three boys and five girls. The youngest son tried to enlist underaged and was turned away because the recruiting officer knew him. The eldest daughter was married and couldn't enlist. All the others did enlist.

Dad was in the Princess Louise Dragoon Guards. He was sent home from England because he had been shot in the shoulder but he got into The 14th Field Ambulance, Canadian Medical Corps and went back. The stories from then on are chilling and not those of a medic.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 13 Mar 12 - 03:38 PM

I found that particulr attack he spoke of at Teniers Square

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: Beer
Date: 13 Mar 12 - 03:44 PM

There were several times when i had to turn around and look at the picture thinking I heard Gnu speak. I know because I spent a very enjoyable evening a few years back with him and have spoke to him a good number of time on the phone.

Those stories are very much appreciated.
Adrien

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Mar 12 - 04:51 PM

What an incredible archive and what a family of service members. Thank you so much for sharing, gnu. This kinds of oral history are so precious. He has a very distinctive, strong voice...I could listen to him for hours of stories. I hope he does well, health-wise, but if not, may he pass peacefully.

Can you get a copy of the full audio of this resource, at least, if your cousin isn't able to get any more recorded?

There are great stories out there. Floyd Coleman was a friend of my parents, is 98, and wants to be the oldest, living WWII vet in the US. He's still in good health, so may make it.

My mom and dad had an Indian with a sidecar when they married. Good thing my dad didn't test my mom that way!

Thanks so much for sharing. I wish your Uncle Chic the best and thanks for telling us his memories.

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 13 Mar 12 - 04:58 PM

Thanks, Beer. Those stories need to be told and that site is a treasure. As for Uncle Chic, I just hope he told as many of the stories as he told me and that he audio on that site is not the whole recording, although it would take hours to tell just the stories I heard. Very graphic and unsettling... very humourous. Same as for my old man.

On a sad note, my Aunt Ester, one of four army nurses, had post traumatic stress syndrome and drank herself to her grave far to early. Dad and Chic got off the booze, but it took years.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 13 Mar 12 - 07:01 PM

Thanks kat. Although, most of the stories are not so good. For instance, what you heard him say about the MPs that were directing traffic... not the way it went down. The actual story is from a horror movie. But, I can understand why he toned that one down when he was being recorded. I could hear him "thinking" a few times during that audio and changing the story... a gentlemanly thing to do.

I wish my father had been recorded. My FiL as well. FiL was in The Boot, artillery, Battle of Monte Casino. Shortly after that, pretty much blinded by a grenade while on recon. Heck of a story. Again, it doesn't have a "good" ending, but, it was war and ya can't blame soldiers for not being perfect in combat.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: maeve
Date: 14 Mar 12 - 06:17 PM

refresh

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 30 Mar 12 - 02:52 PM

Scroll down to Teniers Square.

The streetcar pic. Chic was behind the guy that took that pic.

Just got off the phone with Chic. They have upped his morphine but he is still in a lot of pain. I am glad I could make him laugh a few times. Now it's time for one last visit.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: katlaughing
Date: 30 Mar 12 - 04:29 PM

You are a good nephew and son, gnu. May there be peace and release of pain.

With all good thoughts and gratitude,

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: maeve
Date: 30 Mar 12 - 05:51 PM

Gnu, if you sense a good time in your visit- Please thank your Uncle Chic for his sacrifices, and for telling his story.

Maeve, whose uncles are all gone.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 30 Mar 12 - 08:44 PM

Got two CDs today. I had asked for the full interview on CD from The Memory Project by email. They are free. Much to my surprise there was a note attached to one of them... "A Gift from friends from Maine"

Thanks.

When I talked to Chic today, I asked about the other stories and why he didn't tell them. He said they weren't something he thought were to be talked about. And I know why... they are horrifying. I did not say anything. His choice. But, I wish he did or would. They really should be recorded... no matter how graphic and horrific. this project is to document such stories for future generations... to tell them FIRST HAND of what war is. Hell. And survival.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 13 May 12 - 06:36 PM

Just got off the phone. Oncologist says 3 to 4 weeks. Tough as nails. Got time for a few more visits.

He's calm. He sleeps well. I said, buddy, 90 years... done a lot of things... fine wife... four good boys... success in business... ya still have the world by the ass on a downhill pull even though it's going to come to an end just like it does for everyone... ya done good. He said, "Yeah, I did. Thanks."

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: Rapparee
Date: 13 May 12 - 07:05 PM

Tell him "Good job!" for me.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 May 12 - 09:58 PM

Me, too. So glad you've had the chance to speak with him so much. That's important.

The CDs will be priceless. I regret not having much of my mom on tape.

Love is all there is, Love is all we need,

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 13 May 12 - 10:38 PM

Three to four weeks--what can I say? I hope these weeks are filled with wonderful memories and love and also free of pain.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 14 May 12 - 05:05 PM

Well, last weekend he was at his son's place and a bunch of people were there. Had partridge stew (ruffed grouse, a deliacy in our family). He had a good time. Same deal yesterday with a nice meal as well. Wish I coulda been there.

When he goes into palliative care, I am going bring him a box of Joe Louis... he used to get me to stop at 6AM so he could get them on our way north.
His wife woulda been pissed if she had known.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: Wesley S
Date: 14 May 12 - 08:12 PM

Gnu - What was his name?

And my Uncle Jim told me stories about being one of the first doctors to liberate one of the death camps. Buchenwald. Those will curl your hair too.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 15 May 12 - 06:32 PM

Chic still IS a nickname for Charles.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: maeve
Date: 16 May 12 - 08:00 AM

Thinking about your Uncle Chic, gnu. I hope you have some more good visits soon.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: Rapparee
Date: 16 May 12 - 11:05 AM

What was his rank? I was a sergeant and if he was of lower rank I could ORDER him to shape up and get well. You can tell him I said that. That's the way the military works.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 16 May 12 - 06:43 PM

His rank was First Class A Number One Tough As Nails. As far as ordering Chic to do anything, I expect nobody ever had to do so. If they did and he didn't think it was right, I expect they got theirs. Matter of fact, in a way, that happened one time with some US MPs and a US colonel but I can't recall the details. In the end, it involved a VERY pissed off US General who was waiting on the dispatch rider... Uncle Chic. Hmmmm... something about giving up his Sten (machine pistol) before he proceeded.

Gosh I wish I had written all those stories down.

I just this minute called to find out when to call to see if I can visit tomorrow. It went to the speaker phone and I heard him ask his wife who it was... he sounded.. you know that sound... drugs. He's in the care of a palliative care doc now (as of Monday) and she took him off morphine and whatever and put hime on a cocktail of methadone and some others. She said not to call before 10AM. That shocked me because he told me on Monday morning he is usually at the breakfast table between 8 and 9 and to call anytime after 8. But, I saw that with my old man... until the dosage is right, that kinda shit can happen.

Sorry to ramble... just venting I guess.

Thanks for listening and thanks for caring about a good hearted man.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: Rapparee
Date: 17 May 12 - 09:52 AM

Jaysus. Being forced to give up your weapon in a combat zone??? I'd be pissed off too, a lot more so that a lousy general waiting for a dispatch. But he could then pick up a Thompson -- much better than a Sten.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 17 May 12 - 03:02 PM

Rap... not likely. They wouldn't give him a Tommy. And, what about ammo? Logistics, Rap.

Spent two hours with him today. He went off on a tangent right away about his years as a radio operator on the DEW Line weather network but his wife got him back into the "conversation". Looks GREAT and talks GREAT for a guy with a month or so to go. Even though they are still trying to work out the dosages on the new drugs.

I WISH I could walk okay so I could take out a fishing rod, make it down and up the hill and catch some sea trout in the pond for him. His pond, next to the house, is not far from The Petitcodiac River. The trout are fresh and tastey.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 17 May 12 - 03:36 PM

This pic makes me cry.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: Rapparee
Date: 17 May 12 - 09:55 PM

I didn't say they'd GIVE him one...I said he could pick on up. Heck, my very own brother nearly picked one up out of truck when he was in Vietnam. Lots of things just sort of laying around a battlefield. He could have brought it home used it for duck hunting.

They ain't making 'em like him anymore.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: maeve
Date: 18 May 12 - 02:14 AM

Great picture, gnu.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: Rapparee
Date: 18 May 12 - 10:19 AM

gnu, I have some of those types of pictures as well.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 18 May 12 - 11:43 AM

I'll bet many folks herein do also, Rap.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 18 May 12 - 09:59 PM

Good looking family! I'm glad you have a photo like that.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 18 May 12 - 10:17 PM

ChanteyLass... thanks. Only as I have aged have I realized that there are good looks that run in the family. Same on my mother's side. Guess I am the Black Sheep!

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: Rapparee
Date: 18 May 12 - 10:29 PM

I was gonna ask....

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 15 Sep 12 - 04:05 PM

Rough visit in paliative care at the hospital today. He can't get out of bed by himself. When I lifted him, he winced. Spitting image of my old man when I did the same for him. We had a chat. He's cool with it... tough as nails.

The Greatest Generation? Fas as I know, yeah.

Oh, and the nurses say he is "cute". Must be the Irish good looks and charm. I measn, he landed Hazel, 17 years his younger when he was approaching middle age, and she is a babe in every way. I have been telling him for a year that he STILL has the world by the ass on a downhill slide... been where he went and done what he done and married a young babe and had four strong sons and raised them well and fed them by running a successful business that he built in a tough market and... just being a great fuckin guy... a second father to me and beyond. = he done good.

Sorry... just gotta tell someone. Maybe I am telling me? Whatever. Fuck, fight and hold the light, Chic.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 15 Sep 12 - 04:09 PM

It is always a good thing when nurses like a patient for whatever reason. It sounds like he is really something!

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 15 Sep 12 - 04:35 PM

They like him because he is nice to them and respects them and the difficult job they have to try to do the best they can at. When poeple don't try to do a good job, he lets them know. Saw it just the other day... he's got some fight in him still.

Hehehee... gotta tell ya what I mean. Lunch came but so did the nurses to change his dressings. Lunch had to wait. When he got to it... he was half way through it when the lass came back for the tray. She started to pick up the tray. Now, here he is with a cup of tea in one hand and a piece of toast in the other hand and he is CHEWING. He asked her what she was doing. She asked, "Are you done yet?" Well! Even though he EVENTUALLY told her to come back in ten or fifteen minutes, she didn't. (Recall he's Irish and slow to temper but when you piss him off like THAT?)

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: katlaughing
Date: 15 Sep 12 - 04:39 PM

gnudarlin', wrap that big ol' heart of yours up in a big, soft, Mudcat {{{{HUG}}}}...it must've been tough, but I am sure it meant the world to him. Blessings to you and Chic.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: Janie
Date: 15 Sep 12 - 04:44 PM

What Kat said....

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 15 Sep 12 - 05:58 PM

Thanks. You 'Catters mean a lot to me. Odd thing a cyber community... who could have envisioned that a few short years ago? It's a good thing.

Just got off the phone with one of his sons that is with him now. That downhill slide is getting slipprier by the hour. I kinda knew that today, well, for months that it would happen at some point, but I just hope the grandchildren entertain him by misbehaving REALLY BADLY so my cousin is pissed off. >;-) That'll make Chic smile! He was slow to anger even tho his little bastards used to compete in the aggravation olympics. When me and my bro saw their antics we would look at each other, stunned as to why they were still upright. (Yeah, I know.)

Yeah, that is "bad" for me to wish that or say that. But, the kids are Owens' so what else could I wish for?

Dunno if any of that makes sense really. I am on medication, 355ml at a dose. Vitamin B.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: Rapparee
Date: 15 Sep 12 - 06:27 PM

Nail his image to your wall and try to live up to it.

I was a sergeant and can tell him what to do -- and he's to shape up!! NOW!!! (Tell him that it's an order!)

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: Beer
Date: 15 Sep 12 - 07:29 PM

You heard him Gnu. That's an order.
Talk to you soon.
Ad.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 15 Sep 12 - 08:43 PM

Told ya before, in this very thread, Chic never took orders that he disagreed with. I think, at this point, he would disagree with yours.

Tough as nails but even nails rust. There it is, eh?

As far as trying to live up to his image, I dunno if I could ever be that tough. Gentle.

I'll tell yas the story about the bombed out winery and trading booze for fresh eggs in France some day. If they had Jos Louis back then?

I make sure there is a box of "Joes" in his room at all times.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: Rapparee
Date: 16 Sep 12 - 07:28 AM

Then tell him that when he gets to where ever he's going he's to get that place SHAPED UP! He's in charge until I get there and I want it STRAIGHT!!!! Fresh trims on the angel wings! Halos shined until you can see your face in them! I don't want to see a speck of rust on them flaming swords! Togas pressed with creases that'll cut your hands! And those angelic legions had better snap to! None of this la-dee-da farting around, flitting from cloud to cloud! And them Gates had better shine!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 29 Sep 12 - 02:17 PM

I discovered the link in the first post doesn't work anymore so
http://www.thememoryproject.com/stories/551:charles-thomas-chick-owens/

Charles Thomas Owens, December 19, 1921 - September 29, 2012.

Fuck, fight and hold the light, Uncle Chic. See ya when I get there.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: Ebbie
Date: 29 Sep 12 - 04:15 PM

Gary, my heart aches for you today. I guess the take-away importance is that you had such an incredible person in your life. Not everyone does, you know.

{{{{hug}}}}

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: J-boy
Date: 29 Sep 12 - 10:07 PM

I'm sorry brother.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 29 Sep 12 - 10:29 PM

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From:Beer - PM
Date: 13 Mar 12 - 03:44 PM

There were several times when i had to turn around and look at the picture thinking I heard Gnu speak. I know because I spent a very enjoyable evening a few years back with him and have spoke to him a good number of time on the phone.
*******************************************************************

Every visit in the past two months, Chic's wife remarked how much I look like him and sound like him. Spitting image, she said. I spoke to few of the nurses at the hospital during my visits and found out today they thought I was his son and that my cousins were my brothers.

Damn fine compliment was my reply every time as we Owens's are not just good lookin, we are full of it... Irish charm, of course.

Beer... thank YOU for that same compliment. I'll never be half the man that Chic (or my father) was but I am nearly there by their teachings and knowing their actions. I know you understand that in a personal way. Thank you for that as well.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: ragdall
Date: 30 Sep 12 - 02:57 AM

((((((((((((gnu)))))))))))

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: Leadfingers
Date: 30 Sep 12 - 08:33 AM

Comisserations !!

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 30 Sep 12 - 08:12 PM

Thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 03 Oct 12 - 05:50 PM

I saw the piper at the front door of the church as soon as I turned from the pall bearers' pew and said to myself, "I'm good until he plays. I'll just stare at the back of Ian's head and not look at anybody (big crowd)". Three steps later, "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" started it struck me funny. I let out a chuckle and immdeiately lost it. Couldn't see squat through the tears.

Said it before. Tough as nails. Quit school at 14 and went hobo hoppin trains across Camada. Tried to enlist at 17 in 1939 but denied due to age. On his 18th birthday he tried to enlist but was at first denied because he didn't weigh enough. He pled with the doc and the doc pushed down on his shoulders until the scales read right and said, "Yer a soldier."

Dumb move? Maybe. But I owe him as much as any other other who wore the uniform. And more for what he did as a gentleman and a father (to me as well) after the war.

The piper played "Scottish Soldier" and there were few dry eyes... I am just guessin because I couldn't see squat.

Sorry for ramblin on... not much else to do right now.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: Rapparee
Date: 03 Oct 12 - 07:38 PM

I'm sorry, I missed the announcement. But it's over and he's at peace, something everyone who went through what he did deserves.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: katlaughing
Date: 03 Oct 12 - 09:22 PM

I missed it, too. My deepest condolences, gnu. ((((HUGS))))

luvyakat

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: JennieG
Date: 04 Oct 12 - 01:46 AM

So sorry, gnu......oh boy, what a life he led!

Hugs
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: GUEST,999
Date: 04 Oct 12 - 03:15 AM

Hang tough, Gnu.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: maeve
Date: 05 Oct 12 - 01:19 AM

Gnu- You know I've been away so I know you'll understand my late post here. Thank you for letting us know your Uncle Chic as well as we can. TL and I send T & P.

Maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 05 Oct 12 - 11:49 AM

Commiserations Gnu. That old photo of your Dad and Uncle Chic (up above somewhere) needs restoring. PM me a jpeg and I'll do it. Pete.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 05 Oct 12 - 11:55 AM

Just checked and I don't think you can put an attachment on a PM. PM'd you my email address, gnu.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: maeve
Date: 05 Oct 12 - 01:35 PM

What a thoughtful offer, Pete.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 05 Oct 12 - 02:43 PM

No need, Pete. I love that pic JUST the way it is. But, thank you for your kind offer of free services. It is truly appreciated.

I guess I kinda feel, even with it's flaws, our family "owns" that picture and I wouldn't want to change that feeling in any way.

Thanks again.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 05 Oct 12 - 04:50 PM

Please bear in mind that the following was written in the wee hours of the morning, under stress. As witness to that, the spelling and grammar are not typical of any Owens I know. There may be some inaccuracies and that is understandable. Overall, it's a pretty good account, albeit SO brief from my knowledge of far more of Chic's life. Jimmy was told he had three, four minutes tops and he pushed it past five whilst the funeral director waved that it was time to wind up. He had to cut out a lot of the text below.

I saw the movie and it was a lot better than the book.

Eulogy of Charles Thomas Owens
Dec 19 1921 – Sept 29 2012:
(By James F.P. Owens (son))

It is very fitting that Charlie Owens should end his journey right here at St Bernard's, for this is where it all began. He was born on Dec 19 1921 on Wesley St which runs right behind this Church in a house his family rented. He was baptized right here at St Bernard's not long after that and he attended mass and went to school here throughout his childhood. He came from a loving family of 5 girls and 3 boys. He was a middle child just like me, but not mixed up at all.

Charlie's parents were John (Jack) Owens and Jesse Anne Paschal and they moved to Moncton about one hundred years ago in 1912. They were from Salmon River and North Forks on the Immigrant Rd near Chipman NB. They were very kind and loving people. Their family was of Irish descent and had a very strong cultutral identity. They were true Characters and they loved to laugh and tell stories and mimic people.

Grampy Jack was essentially an orphan. His father had been killed in the woods while Grampy was in his mother's womb. Grampy's mother re-married and then sent Grampy and his brother away to live with their uncle Uncle Jimmy Owens and later their uncle Alec Knox as they were unwanted by their step-father. Grampy never forgot the kindness of his uncles and he passed the importance of serving others on to my Father Charlie both by example.   

Grampy Jack and Gramma Jesse provided a great example fro my father of self-sacrifice for their family and selfless service and kindness to others. The importance of looking out for the little guy and supporting the underdog was deeply engrained in my father Charlie by his father and mother.

My Father's childhood spanned both the Roaring 1920's which followed WWI as well as the dire depression of the 1930's. Times were tough but my grandfather Jack worked at Willet fruit company in Moncton and so the Owens always had lots of fresh food. Grampy and Grammy Owens took in destitute nieces and nephews and looked after them when their parents could not or would not take care of them. In spite of the tough times, my grand parents provided a wonderful childhood for my father. They kept him free of worry and care except for the odd bout of severe double lung pneumonia which nearly killed him.

After that brush with death, his parents let him run free in Moncton. He played endless hours of hockey on the marshes and rinks in the winter. He fished all the local streams in the spring as well as many others in Kent county near Beersville and Claireville. He played baseball throughout the summer and hopped the train to Point De Chene where he spent hot summer days at the beach. In the fall he hunted with his father friends and brother Bill. His parents also took him and his brothers and sisters to Kent county and Salmon River where they worked on farms and learned a deep love of the woods and streams where my father hunted and fished with his cousins.

My Dad Charlie liked school but he had to quit when he was in grade eight as there were "irreconcilable differences" with a couple of nuns and a mean shop teacher. He had his reading writing and arithmetic anyway as he told me. He was ready to work and start adventuring. He and his best buddies 'Dark Cloud Leger" and Leo "Dupe" Dupuis began train hopping adventures on the numerous rail lines which emanated from Moncton on the Inter Colonial Railways. You might say he became a Hobo at the ripe old age of 14. These young rascals hopped trains free of charge to Halifax, Truro, Rimouski, St John, Fredericton, Trois Riviere, Riviere de Loup ……and all points between.

His days of adventure were soon to take on a whole new scale. War broke out in 1939 and my father rushed down to sign up at 17 years old. He was quickly turned down because he barely looked fourteen let alone 18. The next spring he ran down to the Post Office to sign up with the Carlton York regiment. This time he was 18 but he was almost 10 pounds under the weight requirement. The doctor knew how badly Charlie wanted to join. He winked at my dad and firmly pressed on his shoulders until the scale read 160 pounds. He trained with the infantry but soon volunteered to be a motor cycle dispatch ryder. Many people did not and do not realize how dangerous it was for my father. In reality he was traveling to various command posts not far from enemy lines. At one point there were 29 out of 32 of the original dispatch riders in my father's unit who were either killed or seriously injured and in the hospital.

Within a year, "Chick" as his friends called him was off on a troop ship from Halifax ship changing course every 7 minutes dodging U-Boat torpedoes for seven long weeks in a high seas adventure. My father was laying his life down for the service of his country. He chose to look at it as an opportunity for adventure. That was his optimistic and selfless attitude in the service of others.

Upon arrival in Bristol England he had shore leave with some buddies and they toured a few Ale Houses before going back to the ship to sleep in their hammocks. They slept quite sound, so much so that they missed the fire works generated by the German Dive Bombers that targeted their ship throughout that night as they snoozed away. Several ships had been hit in the port that night…this was yet just another brush with death. It appeared that someone was looking out for young Charlie.   

He spent the next 3-4 years training in schemes and giant convoys throughout Great Britain for the inevitable Normandy Invasions. He slept most nights with his back on the seat of his motor cycle with his feet on the handle bars and an oily tarp flung over himself to block out the relentless rain, sleep, wind & wet snow. You may often hear young adults say they are going to Europe on an adventure to find themselves. Charlie was in Europe on an adventure but often wished he could find himself in Canada.

Finally the big push came and the Canadian army joined the largest Armada of ships in the history of the world. They were forming the largest land invasion force ever seen since the beginning of time. Charlie landed on D-Day +2 at Juno beach and quickly dug in to support the amassing of a giant beach head. He was soon off on various missions to carry war plans, maps, orders and dispatches to various command posts for the various fronts.

For the most part he managed to avoid dive bombers, high altitude bombers, V1 Pulse jet Bombs, V2 Ballistic Missile attacks, sniper and motor fire, booby traps and of course, the rabid roving wild dogs that loved to chase his motor cycles. One night upon returning from a dispatch he was sent flying from a jeep through the darkness. To this day no one knows if it was due to a mine, a bomb or perhaps the road just suddenly ended at the edge of a massive bomb crater in the road. He was reported Missing-In-Action (MIA) in a telegram to his parents. A few days later he woke up on the Frozen French ground and realized that he was still alive. He had a broken collar bone and shoulder blade, cracked vertebrae and herniated disks in his neck. He was in a patient staging area next to a United States Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) unit. The Americans had picked him up at the scene and rescued him from a slow death of hypothermia and internal injuries. The Americans soon sent word to the Canadian army of my Father's condition once he could communicate with them.

Roughly 10 days later, the Canadian army sent another dispatch to his parents informing them that he was ok. Somehow through some act of Grace, the second telegram arrived before the first one which saved his mother and father and siblings untold anguish. Once again he survived another brush with death.

A couple of months later he was riding again and back in full swing. He along with the Canadian army moved into Antwerp Belgium. The enemy had declared that they would make Antwerp it a city without a port or a port without a city. Antwerp was under relentless attacks both day and night from V1 pulse jet rockets and V2 ballistic missiles. One day when my father was in heavy traffic, he maneuvered his way up to the front of one of the main intersections in Belgium, La Mer and Leopold Blvd. There was a stern British MP directing traffic there and he noticed my father's French Grey arm band. The MP was required to send Pops through, as he had precedence over all other traffic since he was a vital component of military communications.

The MP stopped all traffic in all directions and pointed directly at my father and briskly waved him through.   My father wasted no time and gave full throttle to his trusty Harley Davidson. Within 10 seconds, he was well down the road and rounding a corner. Suddenly the earth began to shake and then the windows to quake. All around him glass shattered and a tremendous wind overtook him as a sonic boom passed over Charlie. A Mach 10 V2 Ballistic Missile with a 4 thousand pound war head ad just hit dead center at the intersection he had just left, killing over 250 men women and children instantly and wounding countless others. It was one of the single most deadliest V2 rocket attacks of the second world war.

Charlie was getting first hand experience with the test program for missile trajectory that was later used by the great German rocket engineer Werner Von Braum to put the Neil Armstrong on the Moon.   My father scraped past this attack, and it seemed that he was being looked out for. No doubt his family were here at St Bernards in Moncton through many nights praying for him.

Charlie had many other scrapes during the war as he moved on to Holland and Germany. Somehow, he managed to survive and come home. Many of his Childhood friends were not so lucky including Leopold Dupuis (Dupe) whole left a fiancé and an unborn baby girl in England. My fathers name and those of his brother Bill and sister Lillian are scribed on banner of honour on the wall of honour here at St Bernards Church. All told there were 5 Owens children enlisted in the Canadian forces during the war, the other two being Esther who was a WAVE and Jimmy who was enlisted in the army. Neither saw action over seas.

We often asked Pops how high of a rank he achieved in the Canadian Army. He told us with a twinkle in his eye that he once made it above private to Lance-Jack Corporal but was soon busted back down where he belonged for being AWOL at an Ale house with his friends.

When he returned to Canada after the war he roamed around on more adventure in the United States working various jobs but he longed for Canada. It wasn't long before he decided to re-enlist and get an education in the Royal Canadian Corp of signals as a radio technician and weather observer as part of the largest wireless communication net on the planet, The NWT & Y fixed wireless radio. You might say it was a prelude to the wireless internet system. In fact much of the acronyms that kids use today while texting were first pioneered by Pops and his buddies throughout the arctic in the 1950s as they passed messages in Morse code on short wave radio.

Pops spent the next 10 years of his life in the high arctic contemplating his life and its purpose while he was stationed at numerous radio stations of the distant early warning line. He was assigned to numerous outposts with perhaps 6-8 other complete strangers went for up to 18 months at a time with no leave and the odd mail plane every month or two if you were lucky.    It made a posting at ALERT seem like a Caribbean vacation. The high arctic isn't unlike a desert, there is rarely precipitation due to the extreme cold and the wind blows the dry snow and ice crystals relentlessly in drifts the grains of sand in a biblical desert. It wasn't much of an existence but it was the main defence for Canada and the USA against Nuclear attack by potential long range Russian bombers. He served in various outposts including Fort Providence, Hay River, Great Bear Lake, Great Slave Lake, Baffin Island, Enneday Lake.

My father was always looking out for the little guy. As an example, there was a tribe of natives that had been decimated by starvation and their ranks had dwindled from several hundred down to less than a hundred in just 6 months. You may have heard tell of the story called "The people of the Deer. By Farley Mowat, also known ad Hardly Know-it. The caribou did not come through their normal migration routes that year and these natives depended on them for survival. My father had tried to help the tribe with food and rations from his radio station outpost.
On one occasion he noticed two little orphans who were being mistreated by the chief. A few days later, when the tribe was passing the station he noticed that tye were missing. He confronted the chief who just shrugged his shoulders. My father set out on the trail and found the two little boys huddled and shivering, on the verge of freezing to death. They looked like concentration camp victims and were essentially walking skeletons. He brought them back to the station and fed them off of his own rations. He kept them at the station for many months and gave them little jobs and purpose in life. He sent many telegrams to Canadian army headquarters and was responsible for having high ranking officers visit the area to see for themselves the tragedy taking place. He helped arrange to have what remained of the tribe evacuated by Air lift.   

When he emerged from that frozen desert wasteland he returned to Moncton full of purpose. He had given over a quarter of his life to serving Canada and his life was now half over. He was just over 40 and many people didn't count him as having any real chance of having a family. But there were other plans for Charlie. One day he spotted soon spotted a beautiful young university educated woman who worked at a local pharmacy where he used to go eat. It took him six months to to get the nerve to speak to her. He was 40 and she was 24. He Allegedly told her that he was 39 and that seemed to make all the difference in the world. They were soon married and had 4 boys in just over 4 years. This was the next chapter of Charlie's life. A life of dedication ad service to his family and the community. He volunteered as both a hockey coach and a hockey coordinator in Moncton Minor hockey association. He took his children on countless fishing trips, hunting trips and on camping adventures.

He had various jobs at Imperial automotive and Jumbo transport but soon started a company with help from his sister Esther and David Paradis in New York. He grew the business in Moncton which it eventually became know as ABCON industrial supply and many fishermen, lumberjacks, pavers etc. came to depend on his company to keep them moving. He ran the business for 25 years and it paid for lots of hockey gear, trucks trailers, houses, motor bikes, fishing rods, riffles, shotguns and camping trips, camps and cottages.

He was always there to encourage us and be a strong example of a loving dedicated father and husband. He gave up drinking when I was born and smoking a few years later. He never looked back. As always, he did it for his family. You never heard him say that he needed time to himself like you hear on many of the talk shows. He had no sense of entitlement, only a sense of giving to others and a strong sympathy for the underdog. Many of my younger uncles and older cousins have told me that my father was like a second father to many of them as many of them had lost their dads at a fairly young age.

He had struggles with alcohol as did many of the veterans of the second world war due to the horrors that they had witnessed. However, Charlie, with his faith, managed to eradicate this from his life. He also helped many others to do the same through his involvement in the Clarke Club which was a branch of AA.

He had no time for putting on airs and could not stand arrogance, selfish pride, phony behaviour. His unit was inspected by princess (later Queen) Elizabeth overseas but he wasn't phased in the least. He looked at everyone as individuals and of equal value, just with a different job to do. He always looked for the silver lining and saw at the bright side and gave his children pearls of wisdom about life that were very comforting. He had a very strong joie de vivre. He was learning to play golf in his early 80's and keeping up with those who had played their whole life.

But the years eventually would catch up with Charlie, and as he would say he was living on borrowed time anyway. Near the end of my father's he suffered terribly with metastasized cancer in his skin and lymph nodes. He was acquainted with infirmity. He was blameless, yet afflicted. He remained silent and brave and did not burden anyone with knowledge of his suffering. He fought the good fight for over three years with three operations and two bouts of radiation. He was brave until the end when he commended his spirit into the hands of the creator. We pray that he may rest in peace with God.

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Thanks to everyone for all the posts, PMs, emails and phone calls.

Lest we forget.

Thanks for everything, Uncle Chic.

Fuck, fight and hold the light. I'll see ya when I get there. I love you.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: maeve
Date: 05 Oct 12 - 05:10 PM

Thank you, gnu.

Maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 20 Oct 12 - 09:08 PM

Oh, gnu, I am so sorry, I've been away and just got back on Mudcat. My condolences, though late, are heartfelt.

Subject: RE: BS: Uncle Chic
From: gnu
Date: 20 Oct 12 - 09:58 PM

Thanks. Odd. I just started writing a new story about him this afternoon. I haven't written anything about anything since I carried his coffin... ahh.. him.... at the funeral.

This one is called, Chic and Me and Tea. Damn good story.