John Manestar was born in 1922 in Croatia.  He came to Canada with his mother because his father had come 6 years earlier, looking for work.  The depression hit in 1929 right after they moved into their house.  His family along with others had trouble with money, but they learned to make ends meet.  John met a friend in Toronto and together they went to go sign up for the air force; this was a shock to his family, which had a naval tradition.  He started off as a engineer in the air force.  John went overseas, first to England and then to France.  He did not see front line combat, but he was instrumental  in keeping Canada’s planes in the air, and he did find himself in harm’s way a few times.  When the war was over, John returned to Etobicoke and his family’s farm.

John was interviewed for theis project in his room at the Sunnybrook Veterans’ Wing in March 2013 by Crestwood students Maddie Pringle and Katherine Charness.