New medallions honour veterans on National Aboriginal Veterans Day – CBC

Nov 08, 2015

‘What better way to create awareness than to actually wear a medallion to say who you are,’ vet says

Richard Blackwolf is a proud 75-year-old Métis veteran who served in Canada’s Navy for 13 years.

It’s hard to get Blackwolf to talk about his own career but he is quick to praise the work of other First Nations, Métis and Inuit veterans.

Those praiseworthy people include the likes of Betty Ann Lavallee, former National Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, who served 18 years in the military, or newly minted MP Robert-Falcon Ouellette, who served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 19 years.

“There is so many examples of [veterans] becoming leaders and using their military organizations skills they developed,” he said.

Blackwolf currently lives in Victoria, B.C. however his roots stretch back to Calgary. He has spent the past five years volunteering as the president for the Canadian Aboriginal Veterans and Serving Members Association (CAV).

Read More: http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/new-medallions-honour-aboriginal-veterans-1.3308627