Northern Ontario Vietnam veteran one of 30,000 Canadians who signed up

In the late 1960s, while thousands of young Americans were trying to get into Canada to avoid the Vietnam War, Wayne Golden was headed south and desperate to get into the fight. 

"I wanted to see what a war was like," the 78-year-old, who lives outside Massey, remembers. 

"My uncles and all the guys when I was a kid in Espanola were coming back from Korea. I don't think it was an adventure, some of the younger guys would tell me it was an adventure. It was just something I felt I had to do."

Golden would serve with the U.S. Army in Vietnam between 1967 and 1969, first as a cook and then as an infantryman.

He now lives with post-traumatic stress disorder and a heart condition caused by exposure to Agent Orange.

"But you know what? I'm not sorry I went," says Golden.

He finds that on this side of the border, people unfortunately look down on his war and tend to leave the 30,000 Canadians who fought in Vietnam out of Remembrance Day. 

"A veteran is a veteran. We're all brothers. I don't care if you fought against us or not. We're a brotherhood," says Golden.

Hear more of his story, in this documentary: