Fall 2009 - Royal Canadian Legion

Fall 2009T H E O F F I C I A L P U B L I C A T I O N O FN O V A S C O T I A / N U N A V U T C O M M A N D9Lotto Draw winnersThe Lotto Sweep Winners Final Draw wasmade on Sept. 11, 2009 with the followingresults: $10,000 winner was Douglas Moore ofClementsport Br. 122, D. Moore seller; $5,000winner was Janice Grady of Eastern Marine Br.161, Janice Grady seller; $4,000 winner wasStan Mayfield of Saclville Br. 162, Stanley Mayfieldseller; $3,000 winner was Louis Cyr ofPictou Br. 16, Louis Cyr seller; $2,000 winnerwas George Clayton of Fairview Br. 142, GeorgeClayton seller; $1,000 winner was ValerieSievert of Sackville Br. 162, Valerie Sievert seller;$500 winner was Earl Smith of Fairview Br. 142,Earl Smith seller. Above, 1st Vice President JeanMarie Deveaux is shown doing the honours.Dan HennesseyPR ChairmanBranch 24By definition a veteranis “an old soldier of longservice or former memberof armed forces” but todaya veteran can be manythings.We have such an amazingrange of veterans atBranch 24 in Bridgewater.Of course we have ourvery active World War IIveterans that we are allso very proud of. Theirability to lighten a roomby just merely walking inis second to none or whenthey are in the publiceye and remain humbleservants to this day to thepeople who are incrediblyin their dept.One such WW IIVeteran told me that afterthe Legion Tribute at thisyear’s South Shore Exhibition,as he was walking towardsthe shuttle, he wasstopped at least 40 timesand his hand was shakenand he was thanked forwhat he had done for hiscountry.We also have a greatgroup of modern dayVeterans spanning theKorean War, Gulf Warand UN PeacekeepingContinued from Page 7many hard fights ahead in convincing the “powers-thatbe”to make the needed changes to follow up on commitmentsmade. I joined the infantry because I enjoya good fight, especially fights for a worthy cause, andI get the benefit of both in being your Ombudsman.In the words of another Canadian infantry regiment, Ipledge to “Never Pass a Fault”.Since I became Veterans Ombudsman a little over ayear-and-a-half ago literally thousands of people havecontacted the Office, and we have mediated the resolutionof hundreds of issues that did not require changespolicy, regulations or legislation. By the time this articleis published we will have released our first formalreport, “Serve with Honour, Depart with Dignity”,an administrative review of Veterans Affairs Canada’sFuneral and Burials Assistance program. The Officewill also release, “Securing the Start Line: An Introductionto Your Veterans Ombudsman” – a report outliningthe progress in our first year of operations and myassessment of the challenges we faced. All that to say,the Office is moving forward on as many fronts as weWhat is a VeteranVeteran’s Memorial Parkdeployments. It is hardto believe that whengrowing up many of thethings that these men andwomen experienced wewatched on television.The Cold War brought aconstant threat of nuclearwar and drills that wentwith trying to be prepared.As a teenager mywar was Vietnam and wasin our living rooms on ourtelevisions.Today’s youth is facedwith wars of their own.The first Gulf War andnow the war in Afghanistanis a very real partof their lives. We here inBridgewater are close tothis war with a number ofour troops from the AirfieldEngineering Groupdeployed for an extendedperiod of time. War is notsomething that anyone inthe service of their countrywants but it is a realpart of our history.Canada experienced acoming of age with battlessuch as Vimy Ridge,Juno Beach and the KapyongRiver in Korea. Thesewere events in time thatshowed the world that theCanadians were proud oftheir military heritage andwould stand next to anyVeterans’ Ombudsman: Mission - Buddy - Selfcountry in the defence offreedom. Whether it wason a submarine workingthe blockade of Cubaduring the Cuban MissileCrises or high in Canada’sfar North watching theSoviet bombers test ourearly warning system,these veterans have seenincredible events unfoldbefore their very eyes.Some of these Veteransto this day holdknowledge that they areby law still not permittedto talk about for reasonsof National Security. Itis not hard to believethat with these thoughtsjust walking into Branch24 or any Branch of theRoyal Canadian Legionyou will come face to facewith our great countrieshistory.Our Veterans shouldbe honoured, revered andheld to a higher standardas they have risked it allon our behalf and nowjust want to get on withtheir lives. This is thecredo of the CanadianVeteran, “I have servedmy country with honourand will never forgetthose who have paid theultimate sacrifice, we willremember them.”can to ensure that the Government is doing everythingpossible to ensure the fair treatment of and respect forVeterans and their families.If anybody feels our Veterans are being treated unfairlyor would like to suggest areas where the servicesand benefits to our Veterans should be improved,please contact the Office of the Veterans Ombudsmanat 1-877-330-4343 or info@ombudsman-veterans.gc.ca.To find out more about the Office of the VeteransOmbudsman, visit our website: http://www.ombudsmanveterans.gc.ca/Breton Branch 8Sydney Mines, NS“The Friendly Branch”736-3206Friday “Haddock Supper”, 4 - 7 p.m.Friday “Wing Night”, 7 - 9 p.m.Sunday Afternoons Entertainment, 3 - 6 p.m.22609 2-12/5-7/7-29/10-29Royal Canadian LegionBranch #120Four Harbours, 15463 Highway# 7East Ship HarbourPhone: (902) 772-295922606 2-12/5-7/7-29/10-29Earl Francis SpryfieldMemorial Branch # 152P.O. Box 20112Spryfield, NS B3R 2L1Phone: (902) 477-046722404 2-12/5-7/7-29/10-29