The Legend of the...			...Houston Legion
			by Debi Osborne

As the past moves further and further away, so does our memory of loss. Between 1914 and 1945, at least 22 men from Houston died in the two world wars. Overall, over 114,000 Canadians made the ultimate sacrifice in WWI, WWII, the Korean War and United Nations peacekeeping missions.

Yohanna and the gun she used to kill an enemy soldier

Today, it is the responsibility of the local Pleasant Valley Branch #249 of the Royal Canadian Legion to remember the young Houston men who served including those who did not return home ...and to remember what it is to experience war. Houston's Veteran Roll of Honour The following people enlisted for military duty from Houston: World War I 1914-1918 Jack Adams Bill Demque Jamie Gilmour Harry Latta Bob MacKay Mr. Middleton Colin Munro Pete Salice Harold Silverthorne Emil Widen Bill Wilson Charlie Yoch World War II 1939-1945 Richard Aitken Morice Bellicini Ruth Goold Bob Mackoslyn Francis Madigan Red Miller Pete Ruiter Jr. Albert Seinen William Seinen Wyd Smith Ernie Swanson John Veenstra May we never forget what these Canadians did for us and our Canada One of our local war vets, Wyd Smith, does this by sharing some of his own memories. After the war, on a return visit to Holland, Wyd met a woman named Yohana Woelders and her younger brother Ike. Yohana told Wyd that, when she was twelve, she had shot an enemy soldier. She showed Wyd the unmarked gravesite not far from their home. Hidden near by was the miniature pistol she had used to defend herself along with the soldier's ammo, a knife and identification tags. Yohana asked Wyd to turn the tags in to the Red Cross so that they might notify the family of the soldier.

The Legion in Houston today

The gun and Yohana's picture are part of what is called the Red Miller Memorial, a glass case of war memorabilia at the Legion to this day. This memorial houses artifacts returned from war; pieces of dress uniform, a hand grenade, ration tins, pictures, medals and other artifacts. Red Miller owned and ran the first Houston taxi service and became one of the most highly decorated soldiers from the Houston area.