John Toole was born in Point Edward on March 30, 1929, the son of Charles Elgin Toole (born in Sarnia) and Ellen Sadie (nee Foster, born in Hamilton) Toole of Hamilton, formerly Point Edward, Ontario. John had two brothers–James Norman (born 1936); and Allan Charles–and two sisters: Elizabeth Jean and Linda May. John Toole attended Point Edward Public School. At the age of twelve, he moved to Hamilton with his parents. He attended high school there for two years, after which he worked in the Steel Company of Canada until his enlistment. John enlisted in the Canadian Army on August 22, 1950 in Toronto, trained in Calgary, becoming a member of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry R.C.I.C. – D Company and attaining the rank of Corporal. He would leave for Korea, via Japan, in December of 1950.

On October 11, 1951, after only a few weeks in the front line action, John Toole would lose his life during fighting on Hill 187 in South Korea. He had gone out on a patrol that night to guard a group of volunteers laying a communication line. He failed to get a signal to retire with the rest of the patrol and was left behind. Communist soldiers moved into the area and his Sten gun was heard firing until 3 a.m. followed by silence.

In mid-October of 1951, Sarnia citizens would read in the Sarnia Observer that Corporal John Richard (Dicky) Toole, former Point Edward youth, was reported “missing in Korea”. His Sarnia relatives included Mr. and Mrs. John M. Toole, grandparents on East Street; Mrs. John Foster, grandmother; Mrs. Thomas Prudence, Mrs. George Harris, Mrs. Harry Ireland and Mrs. Gordon Burgess, all aunts; and Orville Toole, an uncle.

On July 27, 1953, the day the armistice was signed, ending the Korean War, the Canadian Army issued a list of 45 personnel reported as missing in action or as prisoner-of-war. The air force reported one missing Canadian. Included on the Canadian Army’s published “missing in action” list was Corporal John Richard Toole, Hamilton, Ontario. There was hope, although slim that, in some cases, soldiers in the missing category might prove to have been captured. Hope dwindled with reports from the Communists that they would return 14 Canadians they were holding as prisoners-of-war.

The task of exchanging prisoners began in early August of 1953 when the North Koreans released 400 Allied POWs, including Cpl. Joseph Pelletier of nearby Chatham, Ontario. Relatives of John Toole in Sarnia anxiously awaited word of his whereabouts. For 22 months, no word was heard from him. His name had been given out as a prisoner but the U.N. had never been able to confirm the fact. Parents and relatives had received no letters from him, and the first definite word heard was the mention of his name in connection with a Red propaganda broadcast from North Korea. Early reports were that he had been captured and shot in the back. Initially reported as captured in October 11, 1951, it was not until March 5, 1952, that it was reported that he was a prisoner. In August of 1953, his mother Mrs. Ellen (Nellie) Toole in Hamilton said, “Our thoughts were with him all the time. Somehow, I knew he would come back. His buddies on the patrol felt that he would have almost certainly been taken prisoner under the circumstances”. Corporal John Toole would later be officially listed as, killed in action, October 11, 1951.

John Toole was awarded several well-deserved citations: Canadian Volunteer Service Medal for Korea, Korea Medal, and the United Nations Service Medal Korea. Twenty-two year old John Toole has no known grave. He is commemorated on the Commonwealth Memorial in Busan, South Korea, Plot 21, Row 8, Grave 1346. The memorial is located in the United Nations Cemetery in Tanggok, a suburb of Busan. The stone memorial with bronze petals was erected to commemorate commonwealth soldiers who died and whose burial places are unknown. Twenty-one Canadians are listed on the bronze plaques, including John Toole of Point Edward, Ontario. He also has a memorial plaque on the Korea Veteran’s National Wall of Remembrance in Meadowvale Cemetery, in Brampton, Ontario. This memorial has plaques for each of the 516 Canadian service men that died while serving with the Canadian Forces in the United Nations.

SOURCES: D, E, H, L, N, 2D