Jennifer Pritchett
Northern News Services

NNSL (Nov 09/98) - Harry Eegeesiak remembers attending Nov. 11 ceremonies as a young army cadet growing up in Iqaluit.

Now a member of the Canadian Armed Forces, who assisted in the Gulf War effort, Eegeesiak says his respect for veterans played a large role in his decision to join the military.

"Respect for veterans -- the idea of helping people -- I think that's one of the reasons I left home to join the army," he said from his Edmonton home on Friday.

Eegeesiak, who spent six months in Kuwait during the Gulf War effort in 1991, said he isn't haunted by what he saw in the desert surrounding Kuwait, but he will never forget the faces of the refugees who had no food.

"I don't have any nightmares or anything...we just did our job," he said.

"We could have done more, but we didn't have any resources -- no transportation for food for them. Sometimes I thought about staying and helping them, but I had a job to do."

Eegeesiak, who worked six days a week, 12 hours a day in the hot desert, drinking 14 litres of water every shift to keep cool, was responsible for clearing the area of ordnance.

"We had to sweep for mines and other material -- I saw six bodies and had to sweep around them," he said. "But, the worst was the refugee camp -- their faces were so sad."

It's because of this experience in a war-torn area, the meaning of Remembrance Day has particular significance.

"Some friends went to Yugoslavia and they never came back," he said. "I have a family now and I think about them more before I was deployed."

The work that soldiers do, he said, is important and should be seen as such in the eyes of the public.

And Remembrance Day is the time for people to express this respect, both for those who have served in past wars as well as those who serve in the country's Armed Forces.

"Sometimes, I'm kind of pissed off that they (civilians) don't recognize that," he said. "They just sit back and watch people dying on TV."

But, he said, everyone can think about the work veterans have done in the past and the work the Canadian military continues to do today, come this Wednesday for Remembrance Day.