Len Van Roon was born December 1, 1921 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  Len was an only child, and his father died when Len was only 10. Len attended a local school, and he was one of a few who graduated from high school at a time when most students only went to the 8th grade.  Len grew up during the difficult days of the Great Depression when work was tough to find, and it was followed by the war, when Len received a conscription notice.  He did not volunteer, and at age 19 he applied for a deferment as an only child on a farm. He was denied that deferment and had no alternative but to join up. He went into training at the University of Manitoba and was assigned to the Royal Canadian Artillery (RCA), 19th Field Artillery Regiment. Len was transported overseas on the Queen Elizabeth.  The troops received one good meal a day during the transit. Len arrived in Greenock, Scotland, and he was assigned guard duty in England in 1943 prior to being deployed to Juno Beach, Normandy on June 6, 1944.  He climbed down a rope ladder to board a small landing craft which carried him into the fight on D-day.  Len was assigned observation duty with the tank corps, and as an observation officer it was his duty to call in artillery fire on enemy targets.  After Normandy Len and the Canadian Army moved northeast, following the coastal route.  Len fought in the Battle of Scheldt and participated in the liberation of the Netherlands, and he was in a German house on VE Day.  He was discharged and returned to Winnipeg in December 1945, where he married and found his place in postwar Canada. Len Van Roon was interviewed over zoom by Crestwood students in April 2025.