WWII veteran Canadian drafted by the US Army passed away last week.

[underpants]

FISHERSVILLE — David Wilson Frost, 90, died Friday, Feb. 11, 2011, at Shenandoah House in Fishersville. He was born March 4, 1920, in Trenton, Ontario, Canada, the second son of the Rev. Harry A. Frost and Janet Wilson Frost.


At the time of World War II, David returned to Canada to enlist in the Royal Canadian Navy. But in 1942, he was drafted into the Army on the side of the U.S., where he served for three years in the South Pacific. An expert marksman and soldier, he survived some of the worst battles of the war. In the Philippines, David was in an especially brutal surge where his division assaulted a steep ridge against the Japanese. Only five of the original 36 men in Dave's platoon survived. In the jungles of New Guinea, the maximum time recommended for combat was 10 days, as fighting was constant with very little sleep. Because of heavy casualties suffered by other battalions, his unit was stuck in combat for more than 30 days. At sea, their ship once ran from a typhoon for days. When his daughter recommended he see the movie, "The Perfect Storm," with waves 100 feet tall, David replied, "I don't want to see it. I lived it."

The war experiences would forever remain with him, shaping the strong and steadfast but kind, reserved, gentle soul that he was. Although he never became an officer because he still held Canadian citizenship, he served 306 days in combat, with four amphibious assault landings. Among the medals awarded to him were two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star.

Some of his greatest memories are of the summer months spent at the family's cottages on Chandos Lake in Canada every year. Purchased by his father in 1933, the lakefront property was always a source of peace and good family fun. It was here that David would acquire his love of nature, wildlife and water sports and where he met Mary, the love of his life, in her red canoe. Dave enjoyed doing stonework, felling trees, canoeing, sailing, swimming, waterskiing, fishing, volleyball, tennis and golf. He was an avid reader, and he especially loved eating Mary's famous pies.
http://www.newsleader.com/article/20110217/OBITUARIES/102170306/1023/David-W.-Frost