SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Private George Roland Cooper

Honourable senators, I rise today to pay tribute to one of Canada’s remaining World War II veterans. Private George Roland Cooper was born on May 22, 1924, in Madawaska County, New Brunswick. George will tell you that may be off either way by a day because 100 years ago, his birthday may have been registered incorrectly. But at this stage of life, I don’t believe George will be concerned whether it was registered a day early or a day late.

He is the oldest and only remaining family member that included three boys and three girls. George and his family had a very challenging childhood. His father died of a ruptured appendix when George was only 5 years old. This, of course, was at the beginning of the Great Depression. There was no assistance in those days to help his mother with raising the family, so she had to make the very difficult decision to bring her family to the Saint John orphanage while she sought employment with the goal of reuniting with her children. Seven years later, she was able to reunite with three of her children, but unfortunately, she contracted tuberculosis. The children had to be placed in different homes.

That early life experience gave George the resilience that has served him well to this very day. After working in various jobs in New Brunswick and in Goose Bay, Newfoundland — where he helped to build the airport — he joined the reserves in Forest Hills, New Brunswick. He joined the Carleton and York Regiment in Fredericton for basic training and subsequently joined the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion in 1943.

When I first met George at a veterans’ dinner, he told me that he had thought about becoming a sniper because he was an expert shot, but he liked the idea of not being shot at by the other snipers, so he decided to jump out of planes.

He trained in Shilo, Manitoba, and went overseas in 1944 and served there in Bulford Camp, England, with the 6th Airborne Division in the British army.

After the war, he returned to New Brunswick and again worked at various jobs, including with the United States Army, developing blueprints for the Pinetree Line radar that ran up the East Coast of Canada. His service to our country continued as he worked at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Saint John, continuing at other Saint John hospitals until he retired in 1986.

George is a modern-day man, being current with today’s technologies used by all of us. In fact, he honed his skills through computer courses, among other courses, at the University of New Brunswick at Saint John.

After 43 years of marriage to his first wife, Kathy, who passed away, he remarried in 1999 to his current wife, Annie. George remains very active in his community and with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He is often asked, “What is your secret to longevity?” He promptly responds, “I have good genes, and I wear them very well.”

George is a proud and active member of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 58, and is a regular at gatherings of veterans, family and friends’ outings.

Private Cooper, it is not often that we senators have the honour of paying tribute to a Canadian World War II veteran. Today, it is indeed our privilege to do just that. Honourable senators, thank you and meegwetch for joining me in congratulating Private George Roland Cooper for his service to our country and as we help him celebrate his one hundredth birthday. Thank you.