‘Keep away from drugs and alcohol’ was the message of two Aboriginal war veterans who spoke to high school students in North Battleford yesterday.
George Benson of Red Pheasant is a veteran of the Korean War, while Arlen Tootoosis of Poundmaker served in Vietnam.
Tootoosis says, like many other veterans, he used drugs and alcohol to mask the pain of what he saw and went through — but it did not help.
Benson says he’s been sober for 37 years — but adds, once you’re an alcoholic, you’re always just one drink away from disaster.
Meanwhile, Benson also notes there are now only eight Aboriginal World War II and Korean War veterans left alive in Saskatchewan, and their stories need to be told.