Thornley Christiansen was a brave young man.
At 16 he joined the merchant navy. From 1942 on he crossed the north Atlantic 26 times in convoys, dodging German submarines, airplanes and Mother Nature.
“It was a terrible place the North Atlantic. The storms were huge the weather was cold,” Christiansen said Thursday morning at the Fort William Gardens Remembrance Day ceremonies. “They had aircraft that could go up the channel after you.”
“Everybody asks me ‘well didn’t you get torpedoed during the war’ I say ‘no I wouldn’t be here if I did’ because if you got torpedoed on the north Atlantic in about six minutes you froze to death in the water so they caught you one way or the other.”
Christiansen said fear didn’t come until later in life though.
“When you’re 16 or 17 you’re a brave little son of a gun and it doesn’t mean that much but today I’d run like heck,” he said with a smile.
85-year-old Christiansen was honoured by over 3,000 people at the ceremony Thursday as he took the salute.
“For a merchant seaman to take the salute it’s a real honour. I can assure you this is the highlight of my career.”
Christiansen said it’s important for younger generations to commemorate Remembrance Day. Not only for those who have served but as a reminder that war is unnecessary.
“I’m hoping it will tell people that war is not the solution to everything that goes on in the world today. What is the solution? Believe in God. Ask for God’s help and that will make a big difference,” he said.
Silver Cross Mother Shirley Boneca agrees that it’s important for younger generations to remember.
Edgewater Park Public School has helped students remember her son Anthony, who dies in Afghanistan in 2006, by naming a playground after him. After laying the first wreath at Fort William Gardens, Boneca said every Remembrance Day is a highly emotional time for her family.
“It means a lot to see all these people come together for the veterans and for those who passed away in the wars,” Boneca said with tears in her eyes.
