Paul Scully remembers his first day on active duty in the military. “Your knees shake; your hands shake; your adrenaline pumps; your heart’s pounding,” he said.

It was 1939 and Canada had declared war. Minoru Yatabe remembers Latin class at that moment. His teacher, Ms. Crawford, gathered the boys in her class. She explained she would be forced to return to Glasgow, Scotland, to take care of her elderly parents. “I know many of you boys are going to come overseas in uniform,” she had said, “so if you ever get to Glasgow, come and see me.”