Canadian Walk for Veterans held in Kamloops on Saturday

KAMLOOPS — On Saturday (Sept. 23), citizens of Kamloops joined veterans, as well as members of the Rocky Mountain Rangers at the sixth annual Canadian Walk for Veterans — the second such event held here in Kamloops.

“This year, we’re raising money for the Military Family Resource Centre,” Gordon Sands, veteran and organizer of the Kamloops walk, explains. “Too often, when soldiers are deployed overseas, they come back and they’ve changed, but there’s little or no support for the families. We’re raising money so the families can get support while the members are deployed overseas and after they come home, as well.”

Sands knows all too well how families can be affected by military service.

“I got called to do a seven-month overseas tour when [my wife] was six months pregnant” Sands recalls. “I came home to a daughter, was home for about three weeks and then got deployed for another ten months.”

That sacrifice is precisely why many of the folks who attended Saturday’s walk — including Master Corporal Michael Bagley and other members of the Rocky Mountain Rangers — came out to show their support.

“These are people who have fought for freedom and sacrificed things from their lives so that Canadians can live good lives and live in freedom and peace,” MCpl. Bagley explains. “That’s why it’s important to show that little bit of respect.”

It’s been almost 80 years since the end of the Second World War and 70 since the end of the Korean War. With many of those veterans no longer with us, it’s important to recognize those who have served more recently and continue to do so.

Image Credit: CFJC Today

“My father-in-law is 95 years old, a Korean War vet,” Sands says. ”He’s walking in Victoria today because he recognizes how important it is to recognize soldiers who have served currently when you’re talking about Bosnia and Kosovo and Afghanistan.”