Monday, January 14, 2019
15 April 2009 Dave Roberts� family members Hello, I�m Dan Hartford, a friend of Dave�s. Me and most of his other friends knew him as �Robbie�. I have just returned from working in Afghanistan and my wife saved the Saint Albert newspaper that ran his obituary, as she knew that I would want to know about his death. This is why this letter is so late in being sent to you. My wife and I have known Robbie for many, many years. We were soldiers together in Petawawa in the late 70�s, and he and I have crossed paths many times since then. The army was a different organization in those days from what it has evolved into over the years. At that time, drinking heavily was a universal feature of military service, at all rank levels, in all situations. We were all young and fit, and we very much enjoyed our life in army. Dave was highly respected by all, and had a lot of good friends. He was always a good and loyal friend to those he cared about; I think that was his greatest attribute. He decided to get out of the army and go west to seek his fortune as a heavy equipment operator in the tar sands of Alberta. He had a great send-off and many were sad to see him go. Several months later I was on a course in Chilliwack BC and I ran into Dave. The tar sands, and civy life had not worked out for him. He had not anticipated the unions and their membership dues, nor the requirements to have civilian qualifications for heavy equipment, even though army experience and training far surpassed civilian standards of expertise. He was not doing well financially, and I snuck him into my barracks each night for about a month, and stole food from the mess-hall for him so that he would have a roof over his head, and food in his belly. I kept trying to talk him into re-joining the army. 2 months later, back in Petawawa one rainy night he rang my doorbell. He had hitchhiked across the country and said it had been raining on him since Alberta. My wife and I took him in at our home for a few weeks while he underwent the paperwork to re-join the army. He bought a puppy from some friends of ours, an Irish wolfhound that he named �Finnegan�. He asked my wife and I to take the dog to his father in Windsor. I am also from Windsor and was going home on leave. We had a small AMC Spirit hatchback and Finnegan rode in the back, and almost killed us with the worst dog farts in history. We dropped him off on Cabana Road, not far from where my family home was. I was staff on Dave�s Combat Leader Course, and was happy to see him graduate from that difficult course. We went on tour together one time in Croatia, and I remember one night that Dave took it upon himself to guard me against harm when I had had too much to drink. I woke up in a forest outside of a small town. A campfire was keeping me warm, and Dave was there with cold water for me. He had watched over me all night. We went our separate ways eventually, as people do in the army. But a few years later we ended up back in the same Regiment in Edmonton. We were both older but not much wiser, but I was a few ranks higher than Dave by that time. Dave was never able to keep drinking from dominating his life, and it took its toll in terms of rank progression. It eventually got him to the point where the army wanted him to leave. I lost track of him then, and a lot of water has flown under the bridge since then. I don�t expect that Dave ever did get control of his drinking, and I think it probably had something to do with his death. In this respect Dave was a tragic figure, which is not an unusual thing, especially for ex-military people, but the point of my writing this to you is to make sure that at least someone in your family knows that as sad and wasteful and tragic as that aspect of Dave�s life was, it was not the defining thing about the man. His loyalty to friends was. He was a good hearted man who would not hesitate to give the shirt off his back, or take a bullet, for a friend. I am sad and sorry that he is gone, even though I have not thought about him for a long time. He was a good man, and a very good friend to many people. He was kind to animals, children, and people who needed kindness. He never hesitated to do anything he could to try to right a wrong, or help people who needed it, even if it meant that he would suffer for it. I just thought you should know this if you did not already. I am proud to have called him my friend. Dan Hartford Chief Warrant-Officer (retired) Former Regimental Sergeant-Major 1 Combat Engineer Regiment
