Royal encounter remembered | News, Sports, Jobs

HUBBARD — With the latest loss of life of Queen Elizabeth II, Hubbard resident and Military veteran Artwork Kourian recalled visiting England with different GIs and assembly the then-princess when she got here to the gate at Buckingham Palace to greet them.

That was within the spring of 1946 when Kourian was 18. He just lately celebrated his ninety fifth birthday.

“There was a small group of American troopers and a few Canadians who had been exterior at Buckingham Palace the place we noticed the princess wave to us from one of many upstairs home windows. She motioned to us that she was coming down after which walked throughout the courtyard and got here to the entrance gate. She thanked all of us for our service. I bear in mind her saying ‘Thanks Yanks for what you do for us in England,’” Kourian mentioned.

Kourian mentioned her greeting was nice, pleasant and informal.

“When she died just lately, I remembered the time I noticed her. I used to be solely 18, and though I didn’t get to talk to her personally, she was chatting with all of the troopers. It was good that she got here to the gate to talk to us and greeted us very warmly. It was a beautiful expertise to recollect,” he mentioned.

Kourian mentioned he tells individuals he remembers assembly the long run queen when she was a younger British princess at age 19.

“I inform individuals I used to be lucky to get to see the princess again then. She was a yr older than me. She was born in 1926, and I used to be born in 1927. We had been all very younger again then,” he mentioned.

Kourian mentioned even then, she had guards watching her on the gate and when she walked throughout the courtyard.

He mentioned years later when she turned the queen, he recalled how enjoyable it was to fulfill her when she was 19. Kourian mentioned the GIs additionally visited Queen Victoria’s memorial, which is close to Buckingham Palace.

Throughout his time in Europe, he and several other different troopers visited 4 capital cities — London, Brussels, Berlin and Paris.

Kourian was stationed at an Military base in France on the time, and he and 6 others GIs from his group went to England.

“We got free passes to get to go to England for some time,” Kourian mentioned, noting he remembers staying at a resort on Dover Road

Kourian mentioned he does have images from his time in Europe, however he needs he would have saved a diary. He mentioned over time he has returned for visits to England and has tried to seek out a number of the locations he visited as a younger soldier.

Kourian mentioned throughout his navy service, he went to Camp Kilmer in New Jersey and was taken by practice to Staten Island, N.Y., the place he boarded the troop ship Webster Victory, which took him to Le Havre, France, simply after Christmas.

“We had been now formally members of the Military of Occupation at that time,” he had mentioned of his position in Europe and remained primarily in France.

Kourian was a guard patrolman within the Military of Occupation stationed at an enormous depot exterior of Rouen, France. About 1,100 German prisoners of struggle had been held there, and Kourian and different guards saved watch over them.

He mentioned this was 1946, after the struggle was over, and so they had been ready to be freed.”

The German prisoners had been from the Berlin space and had been positioned in stockades in Berlin till a choice may very well be made on what to do with them.

He mentioned there was no bother between the guards and the Germans, a lot of whom spoke English.

“They only wished to get house,” Kourian mentioned. “We truly befriended plenty of them as a result of they had been younger guys like ourselves. I used to be 18. A whole lot of the German POWs had been of their early 20s.”

He was discharged honorably from Camp Kilmer in February 1947 at age 19.

Kourian retired to Hubbard almost 30 years in the past after having lived a few years in Conoga Park, Calif., and labored as a technical author within the aerospace business.