Paul Nichols says too many Canadians think the country’s veterans are 93-year-old men who stormed the beaches at Normandy.
What have been overlooked are the thousands of veterans who served in more recent conflicts, including Afghanistan and Bosnia, where Nichols earned his stripes.
Nichols a Calgary Highlanders and Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry veteran, and his wife Terry and their crew left Victoria in mid-April and plan to traverse the country in an effort to raise awareness of the contributions modern soldiers, sailors and airmen have made around the world.
While trekking across Canada, four horses in tow, they’re stopping and meeting with local veterans, inviting them to learn how to ride.
They stopped on Wednesday in Thunder Bay, first at Lost Cowboy Ranch in Oliver Paipoonge and then later at city hall, where municipal officials greeted them before Nichols and Master Cpl. Laura Ortgiese began a horse ride across town, scheduled to end at Waverly Park at a monument erected in memory of three local soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
Paul Nichols, who founded Communities for Veterans Foundation, said move to his wife’s hometown of Quesnel, B.C. sparked his decision to go coast to coast.
“Sometimes we forget about the other three generations that have done a hard, hard job for this country,” he said.
His journey has started to open a few eyes. Or at least he’s hoping it has.
“It’s been incredible. To date I’ve had 171 riders join me,” he said. “My wife Terry puts them through a quick riding instruction – she’s a therapeutic riding instructor – and then they come and join me. That’s how this whole thing is working out. We put them in a saddle and create some discussion.”
From that discussion he said he’s seeing smile and contemporary veterans being thanked for their service.
“And we’re seeing them be appreciated and welcomed into their communities. We really are reintroducing our contemporary veterans to their community. I think that has been life-changing for some of our riders,” Nichols said.
Many veterans face a number of physical and mental challenges, not the least being post-traumatic stress syndrome.
Ortgiese said she didn’t hesitate to join the ride when it arrived in Thunder Bay.
“It just seemed like a wonderful group of people coming across Canada supporting a super cause,” she said. “I feel when people think of veterans they think of grandpas. They don’t realize the young people now joining.”
They hope to reach St. John’s, N.L. by mid-November.
