Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 31 After landing in France, Couture's company made its way inland securing positions in the countryside. He had only been there for three days when he and his comrade Jack Chemeracki became prisoners of war. They were travelling in a truck with four other soldiers when they were hit by a shell. "The Germans were only about a couple of hundred yards away, on the other side of the railroad tracks," Couture says. "Two of them crawled over and shot the guys that were badly wounded. They were going to shoot Jack because he had a head wound, but I bound that up and looked after him." Liberation only came after he - along with thousands of other POW's - were forced to march miles in what is now known as the Death Marches. "I was dirty, rundown, and I hardly weighed 100 pounds when I was liberated. It took me quite a while to recover in hospital," he says. Couture returned to Canada in 1945 and remained in the military. "Well, you know, I made a career of it." He spent 15 months in Korea as a part of the United Nations forces from 1952-1953 and was later part of a UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus. A few years later, his sons would also serve in Cyprus. "My boys were both over in Cyprus with the Princess Patricia’s Airborne when the Turkish invaded, so they were in the middle of the fight," he explained. "They got through it." When he retired in 1972, Couture was a 30 year Veteran, who had seen action in both the Second World War and the Korean War. For his military service, Couture was awarded the France and Germany Star, Canadian Korea Medal, United Nations Service Medal (Korea), United Nations Forces in Cyprus and Canadian Forces Decoration with Clasp. In honour of the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy, George Couture is one of our Faces of Freedom. He participated in commemorative ceremonies in Halifax as a member of our delegation. Warrant Officer (Ret'd) George Couture continued ...
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