First Nations veteran shares experiences of peacekeeping missions
By Rick Garrick
PAYS PLAT FIRST NATION – Veteran Raymond Goodchild completed a six-month United Nations peacekeeping mission in Cyprus during his five-year tour of duty with the Canadian Forces.
“It was hot — we did UN buffer zones,” says Goodchild, a band councillor and family support worker in Pays Plat. “We watched the (Turkish Cypriots) and watched the (Greek Cypriots) and made sure they stayed in their boundaries.”
Goodchild recalls one dangerous encounter his platoon had while patrolling empty embassy buildings in the Mediterranean island country.
“I saw these black boots and there’s supposed to be no soldiers in that area; it’s supposed to be a buffer zone,” Goodchild says. “Right away I told my sergeant and he told us to hit the ground. They picked us up with our armoured vehicle and took us back to camp. They found out this guy was black marketing these big glass picture windows in the buffer zone. So we spotted him and we caught him at that time.”
Goodchild says the peacekeeping mission was an interesting experience.
“You would see different people, you would see the refugee camps,” Goodchild says. “It was totally different. They would talk to us as friendly as they could be, but there was a limit — you didn’t get too friendly with them. You could talk with each other and give each other respect, but you just can’t go into their homes.”
Goodchild joined the Canadian Forces in 1979 and served in Cyprus, Germany, Alaska, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick before leaving with a rank of corporal in 1983. He earned three medals from his tour of duty: a UN medal for service in Cyprus, a Canadian peacekeepers medal and an Aboriginal veteran’s medal.
“It was quite a venture — I did a lot of training when the Falklands (War) was going on,” Goodchild says, recalling the 74-day war in 1982 between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the Falkland Islands. “We got sent down to the Mohave desert (in California) where we were on standby if Canada had to go (to war).”
Goodchild also recalls taking part in “a lot of maneuvers” with the American forces, noting one maneuver in particular on a large ship off the coast of Alaska.
”We were learning how to land off the ship,” Goodchild says. “We were patrolling, watching out for the Russians, watching out for subs. We would go out on islands and camp out there.”
Goodchild’s closest call came while he was operating a Grizzly armoured personnel carrier on a mountain.
“I almost slid right off a cliff,” he says. “That was the closest call I ever had.”
Goodchild usually participates in Remembrance Day services in the nearby community of Schreiber.
“I march in the parade and they’ve got me as the sergeant-at-arms,” he says. “I lay the wreath for our First Nation.”
Although Goodchild suffered from depression and anxiety after returning to Canada from Cyprus, he says military service helped him to move ahead in his life. He graduated from Social Services in 1988 and has since organized many events in his community, including the annual cultural week and national addiction week events.
“It gave me determination and made me to say ‘I can do what I can do,’” Goodchild says. “I can do something and I can complete it.”