Reviewer John Cowans: John lives in
retirement in Chester, NS ,where he has been an Instructor with
Seniors College Association of Nova Scotia.
He is currently working on a personal memoir, Other People’s Children, and his first poetry collection, Hope.
Author: Gerry Fostaty
Publisher: Goose Lane
ISBN 978-0-86492-648-7
Follow Here To Purchase As You Were: The Tragedy at Valcartier
Author: Gerry Fostaty
Publisher: Goose Lane
ISBN 978-0-86492-648-7
As
You Were is the story of a deadly accident that could have been
prevented, when young boys were killed and many others were badly
wounded. The cause of the accident was glossed over, and the
resulting human damage trivialized and ignored by military
authorities for many years. On Tuesday, July 31, 1974, at
approximately 1352 hours, six teenaged boys, all members of the Royal
Canadian Army Cadets, died and fifty-four were injured in an
explosion on a Canadian Forces Base in Valcartier, Quebec.
A live grenade inadvertently made its way into a box of dummy ammunition, and its pin was pulled during a lecture on explosives safety. Gerry Fostaty, a witness to this tragedy, and author of this moving account, spent six years as an army cadet, climbing the ranks until he became an instructor. Leaving the cadets at 19, he became an actor, working on stage and in film and television for more than 20 years. He now works as a marketing manager at an information technology company. He lives in Aurora, Ontario. As You Were is his retelling of the Valcartier tragedy.
The Royal Canadian Army
Cadets (RCAC) is a Canadian national youth program sponsored by the
Canadian Forces and the civilian Army Cadet League of Canada.
Administered by the Canadian Forces, the program is funded through
the Department of National Defence with the civilian partner
providing support in the local community. Recognized as Canada's
oldest youth program, there are approximately 21,000 army cadets in
about 450 corps across the country.
In the summer of 1974, Gerry
Fostaty was an 18 year old Cadet Sergeant stationed at Valcartier,
Quebec. Just before 1400 hours on July 31, 1974, Fostaty and fellow
Cadet, Fullum were walking from their Orderly Room towards 12 Platoon
Barracks where an explosives safety lecture was taking place, when
there was a ‘sharp thump’, then a moment of silence, followed by
cries and screams.The unthinkable had occurred. A live M-61 grenade
had been included amongst a number of dummy grenades. The live
grenade had been passed around the lecture room, along with dummy
ones, and someone had pulled the safety pin. The M-61 is a
fragmentation hand grenade which is designed to kill and injure
anyone within 15 metres of the explosion point. Live grenades are
olive green. Dummies are painted with gaudy colours and have markings
to indicate that they are not live. The lecture was being given by
Captain Giroux, a guest lecturer and explosives expert who, one would
assume, would immediately have recognized a live grenade. as would
the ammunition technician who was also present in the room. That
recognition did not occur.
As You Were is a documentation of
events leading up to this disaster, but it is also the account of its
aftermath - not just in the days and weeks that followed , but also
in the more than 30 years since that fateful July. Immediately after
the traumatic event came identification of victims and the formal
inquiries and interviews, but shock and grief and guilt took much
longer to settle, not days and weeks, but months and even years. Many
of those present that July day so long ago suffer still, some
physically, many mentally, slowly recognizing the symptoms of post
traumatic stress disorder. Over the years,memorial services and
reunions, a proven source of healing, have not been encouraged by the
military who have said, “ That was thirty-four years ago. It is
over. We have turned the page.”As well, the Department of Veterans
Affairs have deftly side-stepped any responsibility by saying that
‘Cadets are not members of the Armed Forces’ all of which makes
one wonder, finally, at the truth and worth of the motto on the crest
of the RCAC - ‘Acer Acerpori - As the Maple so the Sapling.’ One
would hope this isn’t so.
Anyone interested in training
programs for boys and girls, especially in the Cadet organizations in
this country, would do well to read this excellent.testimony.