Gord Kowalishen was born February 14, 1950 in Toronto.  Gord grew up in 1950s Toronto, against the backdrop of a time of prosperity where new technology such as TV and cars were beginning to affect Canadians’ lifestyles.  Gord grew up in the west end of the city, attending school and playing baseball, but when he reached the age of 17 Gord enlisted in the Canadian Forces.  It was a tense time, and he remembers well the threat of the USSR and the emerging Cold War.  So Gord enlisted, eventually choosing the artillery as his area of focus.  He became an artilleryman, working on the 105 and 155 mm howitzers.  Gord was deployed to Germany on a NATO mission during his time, working with the British to broaden his skills in the event of a hot war.  On his return to Canada, he went into the reserve forces and worked as a recruiter.  We interviewed Gord at the Sunnybrook Veterans Wing in August 2022.