Last week I had the pleasure to interview Burns Lake war veteran Alan Blackwell.
I must say it was one of the most fascinating interviews I’ve had in my short time working as a journalist. The 91-year-old veteran described his movie-like experiences with such truthfulness that he was able to transport me back in time and make me see things through his eyes.
When I was first assigned to interview him, I was expecting it to be a veteran story just like all the others we see in the media. But there’s nothing ordinary about Blackwell’s life. I realized that as soon as I started researching about him.
Blackwell was a part of a special operations unit known as the Devil’s Brigade during World War Two. This elite unit consisted of almost 2000 American and Canadian soldiers, and was created with the purpose of defeating German Nazis. The Devil’s Brigade became notorious for engaging in what were considered impossible missions, and of course, never losing a battle.
In one of the unit’s most challenging missions, soldiers climbed a mountain in the middle of the night in Italy to take the Germans by surprise. While Blackwell was telling me this story, the intensity of his voice and the emotion in his eyes made me sympathize with those soldiers. I kept trying to imagine what was going through their minds that night… while climbing that mountain.
Most of us mortals will never experience anything like it – the pressure of having to climb a mountain quietly in the middle of the night while knowing there would be a battle the next morning. I can’t even begin to comprehend the amount of willpower that would take to overcome the cold, the hunger, the fatigue, the fear and the anxiety to power through this seemingly impossible mission.
Blackwell lived an extraordinary life that the rest of us can only imagine. His stories made me wonder what life would be like after going through such challenges.
What would it be like to be a part of these missions while loved ones were on the other side of the world? How would life be after pushing yourself to the limit, of seeing the extremes of what humans can be and do, of seeing your own nature put to the test in the most extreme of scenarios? How would life be after being a part of such impossible missions? How would routine look like? How would your world view be? How would that affect your life?
I guess the answer to these questions is why I loved this interview so much… because the simple fact that this brave 91-year-old was next to his wife and his great-grandchildren, speaking so eloquently about his experiences, was life-affirming.
I was reassured after seeing that someone could face the reality of war and its unimaginable challenges, and carry on to build a beautiful and meaningful life. After the war, Blackwell worked as a guide outfitter in Burns Lake for 52 years; he wrote a book called 70 Years Next to Paradise describing his time growing up in Ootsa Lake; and he built a beautiful and supportive family.
Almost 200 soldiers from the Devil’s Brigade are still alive, including 50 Canadians. They will now receive a well-deserving medal from the American Congress. The congressional gold medal is in fact the highest expression of national appreciation given by the congress. People who also received this honour include George Washington and Mother Theresa of Calcutta.
The medal will be given Feb. 3 in Washington, D.C., and since Blackwell will not be attending the ceremony due to health reasons, I thought the least I could do was to write this column in his honour.