Thing are moving along here in PLP. We are now studying World War II, from a Canadian perspective.
This Blogpost is similar to one I previously wrote.
We were asked to find a Canadian soldier who fought in WWII, and research them by examining primary sources, such as letters they wrote, their medical examinations, etc. I used this website to find a soldier.
I ended up choosing a French-Canadian soldier named Jean Eudes Poirier. Poirier was born in Quebec, but lived in Nova Scotia before enlisting in the army. He was a very small person, and did not seem to be great fit for the army. I also found out that he was bilingual, which gave the idea to add a copy of his diary entry in French as well.
I found it interesting to research a real soldier. There is a harsh reality in reading a letter the army sent to a woman informing her that her son was killed in battle. Interestingly, Poirier’s mother did not receive word of her sons death until she asked the army repeatedly why he was not receiving the cigarettes she sent him.
I enjoyed writing from Poirier’s perspective, however it took a lot of time to rewrite the letter in French.
All of the information that is in the letter is true and was gathered from primary sources.
Well, here is my diary entry from the perspective of Jean Eude Poirer:
(Click the entries to enlarge them).