19 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca ALLARD, Fernand WWII Fernand was born in Eriksdale, Manitoba in 1922. In 1941, at the age of nineteen, he enlisted in the Army with the RWR to serve during World War II. He went through training but was never sent out overseas. They were being prepared to be sent but did not go due to the war ending. He was a 28-year member of The Royal Canadian Legion St. Laurent Metis Branch 250. Fernand passed away in 2002. ARASON, Gerald Gordon “Jerry” KOREANWAR Jerry was born on July 15, 1932 in Fort Frances, Ontario, to Sig and Alvena Arason. He was the youngest of four brothers: Walter, Lawrence, and Reuben. Jerry attended school in Fort Frances. He joined the Canadian Army Reserve at the age of fifteen, where he served as a gunner in the artillery from July 15, 1947 to September 30, 1949 after he fibbed a little about his age. In his teen years, he had many different jobs, but his favorite was the summer he spent fighting forest fires in Quetico Park, Ontario. In the 1950’s, he moved to the United States to help his father at Arason’s Body Shop. Jerry registered for the draft when he came to the United States and was drafted and served in the Korean War from 1951 to 1954. During his service, he was stationed in Nuremburg, Germany, where he received his American citizenship. He was extremely proud of his dual citizenship and service to both countries. He returned to the United States to work with his father and brothers at Arason’s Body Shop which he eventually purchased and operated with his own sons. He spent 65 years working in the Body Shop that his father started in 1932. While working for Arason’s Body Shop in 1960, Jerry rescued a young lady named Dolores Dahl who had put her car into a snowy ditch. They were married on October 8, 1960. They had three sons: Douglas Gordon, Thomas Sigurd and Kristopher George. Jerry was a member of VFW, American Legion, Royal Canadian Legion, Elks, Rotary, and First Lutheran Church. He was also very proud of his Icelandic heritage and spoke of that often. Jerry passed away on August 5, 2021 and is buried at Riverside Cemetery in Loman, Minnesota. He was the last surviving member of his family.
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