257 www.on.legion.ca ONTARIO COMMAND HEPTON, John Everett John was born in Cooksville, Ontario on September 26, 1921. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force on July 20, 1942. He served as Warrant Officer I, Air Gunner duringWorldWar II and participated in 34 operations on D-Day, Liberation of Europe, Operation Market Garden and Liberation of Holland. He was discharged from service on April 26, 1945. He was a thirty-year member of The Royal Canadian Legion Perth Branch 244. John passed away on October 21, 2014. HERN, Robert Sydney “Bob” After being born in Togo, Saskatchewan on December 19, 1917, Bob grew up in Hamiota, Manitoba. Eager to travel, Bob left the farm, riding the rails fromAlberta to Quebec. He worked in the Kirkland Lake mines and harvested tobacco in Southern Ontario. Schooled in mechanics and welding, he entered the Royal Canadian Service Corp on July 23, 1940 becoming part of the 5th Division. Training in Toronto allowed him to meet the woman he would eventually marry. On board troop ship SS Pasteur, he left from Halifax, on November 1, 1941 to Farnborough, England. Later, in November 1943, he left for Italy on the USS Monterey, with its sister ship which was a hospital ship. During attack on the sister ship, they took on survivors many of which were nurses. After Italy, France, Holland, and Germany, he volunteered for the Pacific front and was sent home early in July 1945. He got married and while on honeymoon, war in Japan ended and his discharge followed. He eventually joined The Royal Canadian Legion Scarborough Branch 13. Bob passed away on April 4, 2010. HERCHENRATTER, August Paul “Augie” August was born in Kitchener, Ontario on August 10, 1919 to Conrad and Pauline (Schmidt). In 1942, Augie was playing professional hockey when he was called up for active military service with the Kitchener based Scots Fusiliers of Canada. He was shipped overseas in 1943 as a Sergeant and was a platoon leader with the 1st Battalion of the Cambridge (Galt) based Highland Light Infantry of Canada, which took part in the D-Day amphibious landings on Juno Beach, Normandy on June 6, 1944. Augie was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal at Buckingham Palace by King George VI in 1945. He married Joanne (Vaughan) in 1945 and they raised three children: Don, Judie, and Nancy. In 2014, Augie received the Legion of Honor from the Government of France, that country’s highest honour, in gratitude for his service in helping to liberate France. Augie also had the honour of being inducted into the Waterloo Region Hall of Fame (military category) in April 2016. On December 7, 2017, Augie passed away at the age of 98. He had sixty years of membership with The Royal Canadian Legion Waterloo Branch 530 and his name has been inscribed on Plaque # 9 of the Waterloo Legion Veterans Memorial Wall.
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