BUCHANAN, Sask. — George O. H. Sullivan rarely spoke about the difficult experiences he faced as a Canadian Army medic in Korea, but his daughter remembers the stories he did share and the pride he later took in marching alongside fellow veterans on Remembrance Day.
Born June 16, 1935, in Emo, Ont., Sullivan enlisted in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps in Winnipeg, Man., on Jan. 5, 1953, when he was just 17 years old. His journey would eventually take him halfway around the world.
He travelled by air to Tokyo, Japan, before continuing on to Korea. Tokyo gave him one of the stories he would tell for the rest of his life.
While there, a Japanese tattoo artist he remembered as the most tattooed man in the world tattooed both his arms in a single sitting. He recalled two Japanese women fanning him while the artist worked.
His tattoos were anything but ordinary. One featured a sword wrapped with the medical serpent, with "Death Before Dishonour" written beneath it.
He would later laugh about having both arms done at once:
“Never get both arms tattooed on the same day — you can’t sleep on a cot then.”
By the time he served in Korea, an armistice signed July 27, 1953, had ended the active fighting in the Korean War, but Canadian troops remained in Korea during the post-armistice period.
His daughter, Susan Maximiuk of Buchanan, said her father called himself part of the "clean-up crew."
As a medic, he worked in medical stations and morgues, caring for the wounded and dealing with the difficult aftermath of war.
"He didn’t talk much about those experiences," said Maximiuk. "Instead, he remembered the men he served with, Quonset huts with names such as 'Ye Olde Viper’s Den,' and the Korean children his unit helped.
"During his time there, the men also visited ancient sites they called the 'Valley of the Queens,' surrounded by centuries-old stone guardians.
"Eventually, it was time to come home. He returned to Tokyo, and on May 5, 1955, his Canadian Pacific Airlines International Dateline Club certificate marked his crossing of the International Date Line.
"But he didn’t fly home. He came home by ship.
"The photograph he kept records that the journey took 19 days.
"By the time he returned to Canada, the seventeen-year-old who had left home to serve his country had become a young man carrying experiences he would rarely put into words.
"Years later, my father was finally officially recognized as a veteran. He was incredibly proud of that recognition because it meant he could finally march in the Remembrance Day parade. For him, being able to wear his uniform and march alongside other veterans was something that meant a great deal.
"This is the story of my father, George O. H. Sullivan — a young man from Emo, Ontario, who travelled halfway around the world, served as a Canadian Army medic, and quietly carried his memories home.
"For him, and for all those who served in the places where the hardest work often went unseen: Lest we forget,” concluded Maximiuk.
– Submitted by Susan Maximiuk
