Lester B Pearson

Lester B Pearson (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0006175)

Everyone has a hero. They can be fictional or real life heroes that inspire us to fulfill our hopes and dreams. They can give us courage through difficult situations in our daily life. They can inspire us and also help us find success. Heroes can help us overcome our fears and can set an example for us. Heroes always do what is right and we can too. And that’s why heroes are important in our lives.

Every hero’s story has to start somewhere. For Lester Bowles Pearson, it began on April 23 1897 in Newtonbrook, Toronto, Ontario. After he finished high school, he enlisted himself in the Canadian Army Medical Corps with the rank of private and later reached the rank of lieutenant. He fought along side the allied armies, fighting in Egypt and Greece for two years. Afterwards, he was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps where he served as a flying officer. After he survived his first plane crash, he was sent home from two accidents. After this he retired from the military service.

After the war, Pearson returned to school and studied in the University of Toronto in 1919 and received his BA. He then "studied at Oxford University in St. Johns College where he received his Second Class BA in modern history in 1923 and a MA in 1925." After this he returned to Canada and taught history and the University of Toronto. Apart from this he coached the Varsity Blues Canadian football team and he Varsity Blues men's ice hockey team. Pearson was married to Maryon Moody and had two children, one boy and a girl, named Geoffrey and Patricia.

During Pearson’s lifetime time he faced many challenges from being hit by a London bus in 1918 to facing a life-threatening disease like cancer. Pearson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for helping to resolve a soon to be war between the British and French against the Egyptians because of the Suez Crisis in 1952. He did this by meeting with the United Nations to propose an international peacekeeping force in order to supervise the withdrawal of the troops. He was elected party leader of the liberal party in 1958. While being leader of this party, he faced many challenges like party scandals, budgeting problems, and people thought his party lacked leadership and direction. The tables where turned despite his problems, when he was elected prime minister of Canada in 1963. He introduced the Canada Pension Plan, Canada Student Loans, and established a new national flag, the Maple Leaf.

There is a hero in all of us. I do believe this because God gives us the ability to do what’s right; in this way we are all heroes. We can honour our heroes by remembering the great things they did and try to do one good deed in honour of them.