My father’s name was Lyn (Lynwood) H. Buffam and he was a Private in the Perth Regiment during WWII.
My father, like many others during WWII, was underage when he enlisted in the army. He was only 17 years old when he enlisted but he felt so compelled to fight for our country that he said that he was 18. It was not discovered that he was under age until he arrived in England. It must have been terrifying for my father to board the ship to England because he could not swim and had a fear of water. The call to duty however, was so great that he did not let that stop him. Once it was discovered that my father was under age, he was given the option to return to Canada or stay in England until he turned 18. He felt that returning to Canada was not the option that he wanted to choose, so he stayed in England with the Regiment that he had enlisted with. His Regiment eventually went on to be part of the Italian Campaign
My father rarely spoke of his time in the army except for some of the funnier incidents that had happened. Sadly, my father passed away in 1992. Unfortunately, I never fully appreciated the sacrifice that he had made, nor everything that he must have gone through. It makes me sad to think that I no longer have the opportunity to talk to him about what he endured.
The first year that I ran in the Canada Army Run that Remembrance Row was part of the event, was the year that I did the Vimy Challenge. I was extremely moved to see all the pictures of the soldiers lining the route along Colonel Bye Drive. It was very emotional but also very inspirational to see the photos of these soldiers. I have participated in the 10K+5K Challenge every year since then. This year I am running in the Half-Marathon and once again, I will be doing the run, in memory of my dad. There are not enough words to express how much of an honour and privilege it would be to, not only run this race as a thank you to my father for the sacrifice that he made at such a young age, but also to be able to see my father’s photo as part of Remembrance Row.