The 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, occurs next June, and for one local policeman, he is excited to attend the ceremony to honour those who fought and died during the battle.
The Moose Jaw Police Service’s Staff Sgt. Chad Scheske joined the Royal Regina Rifles infantry regiment at age 17 in 1992 and served until 2000 before becoming a policeman. He later rejoined the Rifles part-time in 2002 before officially retiring from the military unit in 2010.
“It was fantastic. I was going to university because it was part-time work and then summer employment. And then it allowed me to develop all sorts of skills that I use to this day in policing,” he said.
Scheske did not participate in any military tours when he was with the Rifles. He was already a full-time police officer when Canada began its mission in Afghanistan around 2002 and couldn’t take off a year to serve.
However, in 1995, he trained with others for a United Nations deployment to Yugoslavia before the assignment changed to a NATO mission. However, the military decided the group was not properly trained and chose not to send them over.
Scheske was also working full-time with the regular force army then and said he couldn’t stick around for a non-existent mission since he wanted to earn his degree.
While with the Rifles, Scheske served under Ed Staniowski, a Moose Jaw-born hockey player who competed with the WHL Regina Pats from 1971 to 1975 and then with the NHL’s St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets and Hartford Whalers from 1975 to 1985.
Staniowski was a captain and platoon commander in charge of 30 men when Scheske joined the Rifles. He was promoted several times and became the unit’s commanding officer, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.
It was Staniowski who reached out to the Moose Jaw policeman and asked if he wanted to attend the D-Day ceremonies with other Rifles.
Staniowski recently gave a presentation to the Moose Jaw Board of Police Commissioners about the Second World War-era battle, its significance, and the Rifles’ 10-day itinerary while in France.
“This is an experience that I’m certainly honoured to be able to go on (to pay homage) all those brave men who fought overseas and to walk in their footsteps and see what they went through,” said Scheske.
“And to hear some of their stories that are still perpetuated through the people that go on these tours is really important,” he continued. “As they get older, we need another generation to still speak their stories when they’re not here to speak for themselves. So that’s super important to me.”
Scheske recalled that during the 1990s, the Rifles had many get-togethers to remember the D-Day invasion. Attending those gatherings were dozens of Second World War veterans — such as Cpl. Dennis Chisholm and Lt. William (Bill) Grayson — who regaled the younger members with tales of their time in Europe.
Chisholm — a former Regina Police Service deputy chief — died in 2015 at age 90, while Grayson — the son of the founder of law firm Grayson and Company — died in 2008 at age 80.
Scheske admitted that as a young man, he never truly understood what those veterans experienced as teenagers. However, as he grew older, he came to understand that history, the horrors of war, and the amazing feats the veterans achieved.
The staff sergeant recalled that during a Rifles’ reunion this past June, there was only one Second World War veteran in attendance; he died two months later.
While in France, Scheske is also excited to see the Rifles unveil an eight-foot-tall statue near the Courselles-sur-Mer beachhead where the unit landed on D-Day, along with a new plaque commemorating the landing.
“It would be another way to honour those people who stormed those beaches and pressed through and liberated Europe,” he added.
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