Martin, Donald

Don Martin was born June 9, 1933 in Toronto, and he attended Danforth Tech in the city’s east end.  Don grew up during the war years, and two of his older brothers served in the Second World War.  That includes Jack, who stormed Juno Beach on D-day, and whose story also appears in the Crestwood Oral History Project.  The military interested Don too, and he joined the reserve force, and eventually the regular army.  After graduation in 1951, he worked for a time, and in 1954 he went into the army.  The Korean War was finishing by this time, and Don spent time there in 1954-55, part of the United Nations force that monitored the ceasefire.  Don returned to Canada after that overseas stint, and he became a member of the Paymaster Corps.  That new specialty took him to various locales across Canada, as well as to Germany.  He also did two additional overseas peacekeeping missions, in Cyprus and in Egypt after the Yom Kippur War.  Don did eventually retire from active service, but the military not out of his system he did stay in the reserve force.  Don Martin was interviewed by Scott Masters with assistance from Don’s son Eric at the Parkwood Veteran Centre in London, Ontario on March 25, 2023.