CAF Story |What’s it like being a Sentry on November 11th?
Video / March 11, 2022
Transcript
Standing on my post on November 11th is gonna be extremely difficult. I'm gonna be standing there, completely still, for an hour and a half with so many eyes watching us and so many thoughts going through our own heads.
I'll be thinking about the families of those that lost sons, daughters, brothers, sisters. I grew up in a small town called Penticton, in British Columbia. I was born and raised in the Penticton Indian reserve. Growing up in my community, our family structures are not just a mother and a father and your siblings.
It's actually your aunties, your uncles, first cousins, second cousins, and so on. Respect was a huge teaching in my life. We were always told to keep the door open for people, help your elders and be a role model for the youth. Being chosen as one of the six members to be the sentry for Remembrance Day here is an incredible honour.
I'm so very humbled for this opportunity. I got multiple phone calls, multiple texts from all my family, just expressing how proud they were of me.
I put a lot into doing everything every day to my best. We do spend a lot of time rehearsing all the drill movements over, and over, and over again. My hair, it's a representation of my heritage and the past, the ancestors. So, I respect it just like they respected it.
So, braiding every morning, I'm sure that I'm braiding it with a good heart. I'm not angry, I'm not upset. I'm not worried about anything. It's a braid of a clear mind. To me, November 11th, I think about my family that has served, but it doesn't stop there.
I think about all the other soldiers that have paid the ultimate sacrifice to ensure that we can live our days carefree, worry free at least, in this great nation. My family's gonna be extremely, extremely happy as soon as they see me, um, maybe cry.
Ha, ha! Obviously, this is a high point in my career. I've never been part of something to this magnitude. So, being able to see their son, their brother, a part of something so big, it's gonna be very overwhelming.
I do want to express my gratitude for everybody, my community, the city of Penticton, the Penticton Indian reserve. Everybody that I've come across in my life has helped shape me and mould me into how I am today. So, I'd like to thank the Canadian army, my regiment, 1 Combat Engineer regiment, for helping sharpen my skills.
That's why I'm here today.
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