Who Knew? Some Fun Facts

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Geography oddities . In order to drive from Detroit Michigan to Windsor Ontario you cross over the Ambassador Bridge. On the drive you are going DUE SOUTH, to get to Canada. The most southerly point in Canada is Peele Island in Lake Erie, It is on the same latitude as Sacramento, California. The only one of the 5 Great Lakes that does not touch Canadian territory is Lake Michigan. JimB.
 
jimintoronto said:
Geography oddities . In order to drive from Detroit Michigan to Windsor Ontario you cross over the Ambassador Bridge. On the drive you are going DUE SOUTH, to get to Canada. The most southerly point in Canada is Peele Island in Lake Erie, It is on the same latitude as Sacramento, California. The only one of the 5 Great Lakes that does not touch Canadian territory is Lake Michigan. JimB.
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I visited Peele Island as a child. That was my first visit outside of the US.
 
During the second world war, an estimated 19,000 American citizens came to Canada and joined our military forces. This was way before the December 7th attack at Pearl Harbor. Most of those Americans enlisted using their real names, although some used an alias due to the US Neutrality Act provisions. Their motivations ? They knew that Hitler had to be stopped, and soon.

During the Vietnam war era, between 20 and 30 thousand Canadians went to the USA and voluntarily joined the US military. The numbers are hard to quantify because the Defense Department made the Canadians choose a "US home town " to put on their D214 form. In 1965 my Toronto high school graduating class had 43 males in it. Of those 43 males, 17 opted to go to Buffalo NY and sign up, mostly with the USMC. Of that group, 12 actually made it to Vietnam. 9 came home intact, 2 were KIA, and one of my best friends John Lemon was awarded the Medal of Honor. About the same number of Americans came to Canada to avoid being drafted in that era. Canada has never had a draft law, so avoiding it was not a crime in Canada. On the other hand American military deserters would be arrested if they attempted to enter Canada, and they would be handed over to US military Police at the border.

During the US Civil War it was perfectly legal for a young man with money to hire a "stand in " to serve in the Union Army in his place. The stand in would be paid a sum of money to enlist, and if he died of wounds or disease, his family would receive a death bonus. During the US Civil War an estimated 30 to 40 thousand Canadian men served ( mostly ) in the Union Army. Why ? Money mostly, and in some cases they were anti slavery thinkers. Units from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois had sizeable numbers of Canadians in their ranks. The man who would later write the music for our national anthem, was the band master for a New York infantry unit. He was from Quebec. Three of the Union Army's Generals were Canadians who had served in the British Army previously.

IN 1917, my old Canadian Army unit, the 48th Highlanders of Canada sent a 100 man recruiting party to New York city, to try and recruit British citizens to join the Canadian Army. This was just after the US had joined the war. The recruiting drive was a success with over 500 men coming back to Toronto to join up.

Was any of this new to you ? Questions ? Ask me here. JimB.
 
jimintoronto said:
During the Vietnam war era, between 20 and 30 thousand Canadians went to the USA and voluntarily joined the US military. The numbers are hard to quantify because the Defense Department made the Canadians choose a "US home town " to put on their D214 form. In 1965 my Toronto high school graduating class had 43 males in it. Of those 43 males, 17 opted to go to Buffalo NY and sign up, mostly with the USMC. Of that group, 12 actually made it to Vietnam. 9 came home intact, 2 were KIA, and one of my best friends John Lemon was awarded the Medal of Honor. About the same number of Americans came to Canada to avoid being drafted in that era. Canada has never had a draft law, so avoiding it was not a crime in Canada. On the other hand American military deserters would be arrested if they attempted to enter Canada, and they would be handed over to US military Police at the border.
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Reminds me of Cheech Marin of Cheech & Chong. He fled to Canada and that's how he met Tommy Chong.

I already had a Canadian citizenship at the time but my dad was too patriotic to send me away.
 
RFW said:
Reminds me of Cheech Marin of Cheech & Chong. He fled to Canada and that's how he met Tommy Chong.

I already had a Canadian citizenship at the time but my dad was too patriotic to send me away.
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How did you acquire Canadian citizenship ? I am genuinely interested to learn that. JimB.
 
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jimintoronto said:
OK that explains it. Thanks. Have you ever visited us up here ? JImB
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Yes. I went to U of T after Vietnam to study engineering but dropped out due to my being a wild SOB. Spent about a year during that time. I lived in Toronto for a short while after my retirement. I must have spent no more than 5 years in Canada total. My mom left me a house there which I still own and maintain. I have recently come back from Canada after a 2 year unplanned stay. So typically speaking, I can't say I'm a real Canadian.
 
RFW said:
Yes. I went to U of T after Vietnam to study engineering but dropped out due to my being a wild SOB. Spent about a year during that time. I lived in Toronto for a short while after my retirement. I must have spent no more than 5 years in Canada total. My mom left me a house there which I still own and maintain. I have recently come back from Canada after a 2 year unplanned stay. So typically speaking, I can't say I'm a real Canadian.
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We live in the west end of Toronto, near St Clair and Dufferin. My Wife was a long time business manager at the U of T downtown campus and she is now retired. Is your house in Toronto ? I guess you know about the hot Toronto real estate market ? JimB.
 
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jimintoronto said:
We live in the west end of Toronto, near St Clair and Dufferin. My Wife was a long time business manager at the U of T downtown campus and she is now retired. Is your house in Toronto ? I guess you know about the hot Toronto real estate market ? JimB.
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Yes it was hot then and it is even hotter now. The prices are so crazy high. Sadly, the house I have is about 40 kms outside of Ottawa. While in Toronto, I rented. If I had a place there, I would have sold it for a pretty penny. :cool:
 
RFW said:
@jimintoronto The west end was so nice to just walk around. Hopefully it still is. Are you happy with your place?
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Yes. This house was built in 1907, by my Grand Father who was a home builder. Between 1905 and about 1930 he built over 40 two story solid brick homes in the area . My Father was born in this house, as was I. When my Dad died in 1983, I inherited this house, so we live with no debt on it. I can walk through the neighborhood and point out the homes that GD built. My street is like the United Nations with people from all over the world, who have chosen to make Canada their home. When the World Cup of soccer is being played, the houses have flags from their "old country " on them. Your house is 40 kilometers from Ottawa ? JImB
 
Well, we have dead Hessians buried in this town. So, we were the sight of the Revolutionary War battle, The Battle of Connecticut Farms.

The Hessian mercenaries were going around NJ raping the farmers wives and committing other war crimes. They were hated.

So, when they were killed in the battle, the locals dishonored them by throwing them in a mass grave, without marking.

That cemetery still exists.


And here's some more weirdness...in 1958, a British military society, based in Canada, came down here, and re-interred the bodies in a military ceremony!

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Other fun facts about the town here? Well, the actor Ray Liotta is from town. He was about 5 or 6 years ahead of me in school, so I didn't know him. I knew one of his teachers, though. Even though he plays all these Mafia thugs, the teacher said that Ray Liotta was one of the single nicest students he ever met.
 
JonSR77 said:
Well, we have dead Hessians buried in this town. So, we were the sight of the Revolutionary War battle, The Battle of Connecticut Farms.

The Hessian mercenaries were going around NJ raping the farmers wives and committing other war crimes. They were hated.

So, when they were killed in the battle, the locals dishonored them by throwing them in a mass grave, without marking.

That cemetery still exists.


And here's some more weirdness...in 1958, a British military society, based in Canada, came down here, and re-interred the bodies in a military ceremony!

++

Other fun facts about the town here? Well, the actor Ray Liotta is from town. He was about 5 or 6 years ahead of me in school, so I didn't know him. I knew one of his teachers, though. Even though he plays all these Mafia thugs, the teacher said that Ray Liotta was one of the single nicest students he ever met.
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I just read about that battle and the Hessians a few days ago! Was it a post by you? I don't remember. I thought it funny that Connecticut Farms is in New Jersey!

The re-burial of the Hessian however, is news to me. Thanks for the info.

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RadishRose said:
I just read about that battle and the Hessians a few days ago! Was it a post by you? I don't remember. I thought it funny that Connecticut Farms is in New Jersey!

The re-burial of the Hessian however, is news to me. Thanks for the info.

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Yeah, this town was founded in 1667, by...you guessed it...farmers from Connecticut. It is now called Union Township. I think that goes back to the 1800's.

Ray Liotta was in a very serious relationship with a deeply disabled woman. I think she was wheelchair bound.

"Do I amuse you? Do you think I am funny?"

I am pretty sure Joe Pesci was also from around here, Newark maybe...
 
our town borders Elizabeth...which is where The Soprano's crime family was supposed to be from. Loosely based on the DeCavalcante Crime Family. My friend Joe, his Dad was a trucker. The boss of the DeCavalcantes saw Joe's Dad in a restaurant. He wanted Joe's Dad, to, you know, let his guys steal from his truck runs. But Joe's Dad was so completely drunk, he just started tooling into the boss. I think his name was Big Paul or Big Pete...or something like that.

And Joe's Dad was so drunk and so crazy, that the big mob boss just shook his head and walked away.
 
I saw something like that. One of my jobs was doing deliveries for restaurants. I worked with one mob restaurant. I directly saw the mob boss's kids yelling at him. Some of the waitresses were his cousins. They used to yell at him. Was crazier than any fiction I ever saw about the mob. But also scary. Never forgot that. Extremely, extremely disturbing and scary to be around those guys.
 

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