In a world that glorifies war, World War II veteran Bob Young is a tireless advocate for peace. The NB Media Co-op recently sat down with Bob to find out how he went from soldier to peace and environmental activist.

JM: Can you tell me about how you came to enlist?

BY: My father was a veteran, so was his older brother, and all of my mother's five brothers were veterans of World War I. I started high school in 1939, and joined the army cadets. When I graduated from high school, I joined the Air Force. I had just turned 18. My birthday was in June. In July, I was in Lachine, Quebec. There were a couple of little experiences there that made me start questioning war even before I went overseas. A year later, I got my wings and instead of being posted overseas which I expected, I was sent to Portage la Prairie as a staff pilot training navigators. I spent over a year there and then they put me in transport command and I was sent overseas, but the war ended when I was halfway across! So I missed all that, but being in transport command I did see Europe with broken bridges, shot up buildings, and that had an impact.

JM: How did you get involved in the peace movement?

BY: I really got into the peace movement in Newcastle. After Remembrance Day a bunch of us were sitting around a table and talking, and there was a guy there -- he had a row of medals. All of a sudden he slammed his glass down on the table, and he said 'You know, they talk about fighting for loyalty for your country and freedom, but on the Miramichi we went to war because we were desperate for recognition in the community. We had been on the dole for 4 or 5 years, hungry.’ He said ‘We had nothing, no place in community. We were unwanted and so we were glad to have something useful to do.' It was a pivotal point for me.

JM: Have you met many other veterans from the Second World War who share your views?

BY: There were only 3 or 4 of us here. It's very difficult here in New Brunswick because of Camp Gagetown and because a higher percentage of Maritimers are military, and it seems that it's become a very large part of our economy. Just a couple of months ago a bunch [in government] went down to Halifax, and they were told this is part of the economic development business. Aerospace and defense industry -- that's where you're gonna get your business. They don't get the connection that when you’re involved with defense you've got blood on your hands.

JM: Can you tell me about your work as a forester?

BY: I liked the field because it was honest work: fighting forest fires and managing Crown lands, and wandering in the woods, and getting paid for it too! Time meant nothing. You did the job and everybody enjoyed it. One forest ranger said ‘When I go home at night I'm mad. I wake up in the morning and think what's the day going to bring?’

In my first job I was what they called a tower inspector for forest fire lookouts. There's this big forest out there and no people, so lightning could strike and start a fire and there's no communication so you would have to have these towers and the inspectors would see the smoke and report it and they would send out a tanker or a fire crew to deal with it, but they’ve done away with that. They brought in airplanes. The tower inspectors were from the community--local people--and they felt a responsibility to their neighbours for that forest.

JM: What do you think about the way we take care of our forests today?

BY: Clearcutting is not forestry that's de-forestry. My friend from Edmundston and I went to a meeting with the Irvings and they boasted about 'the biggest plantation in North America', and my friend said ‘that means they had the biggest clearcut in North America!’

JM: What gives you hope for the world?

BY: I see hope all the time. What was it that Helen Keller said? 'There's an awful lot of bad in the world, but an awful lot of good to balance it.' You see it all the time in different ways. We've always come through I think as a human race.