As Canadians commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the Cheslatta Carrier Nation in Central B.C. is honouring one of its members who participated in the Normandy invasion.
Private Abel Thomas Peters, Rifleman, landed on Juno Beach on June 6, 1944 as one of 14,000 Canadian soldiers who began the long-awaited liberation of Europe.
Peters was born in Cheslatta Lake in 1922, ran away from Lejac Residential School at the age of 13, and eventually enlisted in the army in 1943 as part of the 102nd Northern British Columbians. After training, he was shipped overseas in September, 1943.
About a month after landing at Juno Beach, Peters was wounded by a German sniper at Cannes Airfield, suffering severe head and arm injuries.
After his recovery, he eventually made his way back to Cheslatta Lake to start a sawmill.
In 1952, he acted as translator for the Cheslatta Carrier Nation when Alcan and the Department of Indian Affairs forced people to surrender their land and villages. He married May Jack and together they raised 12 children.
He was Chief of the Cheslatta Carrier Nation from 1962 to 1964, a Band Councillor from 1966 to 1968 and again from 1985 to 1990.
Abel Thomas Peters passed away peacefully on August 15, 2012, just short of his 90th birthday.
