Yukon veterans appreciated for service to country

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When Alex Van Bibber signed up for service in World War II, he became one of four Yukon Aboriginal men who have continued to this day to lead by example in their home communities. Alex, his brothers Archie and Dan, and friend John Adamson all took their basic training in 1944 in camps at Vancouver and Wetaskiwin. The men are members of the Champagne-Aishihik and Selkirk First Nations.

Later they took their advanced training at the Currie Barracks in Calgary, far from their homes in Canada's North. That they could be headed for armed conflict in Europe did not discourage them from defending their country.

"We were raised in Pelly Crossing in the central Yukon. Our father homesteaded the area in 1914 and raised a big family, working a trap line and living a traditional lifestyle," Alex Van Bibber said. The Van Bibbers were the only family in the area, although people going by on the Pelly River would often stop to visit.

"Dan joined the army at Dawson City first, then John, Archie and I followed in 1944, although we were in separate outfits," he said. "Dan was waiting for overseas draft when we caught up to him in Nova Scotia. He and John did eventually see service in Europe. However, a mumps epidemic quarantined the units that Archie and I belonged to and our deployment was delayed for several months." The two younger brothers never did reach the battlefields, as victory in Europe was proclaimed shortly after. Seven thousand quarantined soldiers marched in the victory parade, including Archie and Alex.

"At this time the Americans were still at war with Japan, and a bunch of us volunteered to join the U.S.A. in finishing the conflict," Alex explained. The men joined the Seaforth Islanders and began training at Camp Shadow, just south of Winnipeg, where the American paratroopers prepared for conflict. "While we were home on a short leave before training in Kentucky, victory in Japan day was proclaimed and the war was over," he said.

Months later, in 1946, the men were discharged, and returned home to attempt to resume their lives. All found work in the south Yukon on the building of the Alaska Highway, which commenced shortly after their return, and other employment positions. "As I was raised in the bush, I was comfortable with trapping too," he said.

Alex married his wife Susan, a widow with seven children, and along with adopted son Richard, the couple raised their large family, including two more daughters, Kathleen and Helen. Dan had two sons, and Archie had a daughter. John Adamson married and raised a family as well.

Today Archie, who is 89, and John, who is 85, continue to live in the area. Alex, 86, and his wife, 90, live nearby at Haines Junction and are both still very active.

Alex Van Bibber is still able to work towards the betterment of others. "I'm involved with the National Aboriginal Veterans Association. We've been trying to get recognition for the contributions of Aboriginal service men and some sort of compensation," he said, noting that non-Aboriginal soldiers were treated somewhat better when they returned from wartime service. "After many years of lobbying, we are finally making some headway with the government, and they have appropriated some funds," he said.

Through the years since the war, the Van Bibber brothers have kept in close touch with John Adamson. Every year when Yukon residents recognize the veterans on Nov. 11, the four have led the Remembrance Day parade through the streets of Whitehorse. Sadly, Dan passed away on Oct. 10, just a few months short of his 90th birthday. "This year there will be only three of us," said Alex Van Bibber.

His step-daughter Patt Delaney said the four gentlemen are highly respected in the Yukon.

"We are a small community here in the North, and I've known these men all my life. They did their duty by volunteering to serve in the armed forces and didn't ask for any special favors. They came back home and picked up the pieces of their lives, ad we are the richer for their selfless contribution," she said. All four men were gentle, loving individuals who would have found the taking of enemy lives quite traumatic and out of character, and mostly they preferred to leave the memories deep in the recesses of their minds, and speak of them only rarely.

But Yukoners won't forget the sacrifice and devotion of these men. The names of Archie, Alex, and Dan Van Bibber and John Adamson will go down in history and will be remembered by generations still to come.