Canadian Armed Forces

Very early success

In 1989, Sharon McLeod was one of the youngest sergeants in Canada when her military career came to a screeching halt.

McLeod joined the Canadian Armed Forces as a teenager and had built a reputation as a capable leader and instructor. She imagined herself staying in the military her whole working life.

Then, an anonymous letter arrived at her regiment, outing her as a lesbian.

In the following weeks, she was surveilled, interrogated, isolated and forced to leave her regiment.

Experience = understanding

When Artillery Officer (Retired) Lu Han meets with a Veteran adjusting to life after military service, she brings more than her professional training as an occupational therapist—she brings her own military experience.

Han understands how it feels to miss the structure and sense of belonging that come with service because she is a Veteran.

"I have empathy of what they lived through," she explains.

Han is an occupational therapist with Veterans Affairs Canada.

Meet Tania Pendergast

Tania Pendergast sits at a sunny desk in her artist's loft, dips the nib of her pen in an inkwell, and begins to write a quote in beautiful calligraphy.

She is surrounded by paint, pens, colourful paper and inspirational words pinned to the walls. Half-complete knitting projects sit patiently in nearby baskets.

"Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain," a quote from comparative mythology professor Joseph Campbell reads.

Opportunity arrives

Growing up in Edmonton, Alberta, Shona Mitchell always had her sights set on a career in music. Although her family had some military history, she never considered joining the military herself.

One day, a small poster caught her eye while walking back from a university music class. The Canadian Armed Forces’ Band of the Ceremonial Guard was recruiting musicians. Getting paid a good wage to play music for the summer was hard to pass up.

"In 1997, $6,000 for four months was a lot of money to get paid to play music."

Welcoming home Daddy

It was a grey day when Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Athabaskan sailed back into Halifax Harbour after months in the Arabian Gulf. The Atlantic air was heavy with mist. On the jetty, a young sailor’s family stood in the anxious crowd; a wife, parents, siblings and two small boys. One of them, barely old enough to understand what war was, clutched a handmade sign that read: “Welcome Home Daddy”.

Following in his father’s footsteps 

Born in Halifax in 1969, Gerald Doutre grew up in a military family in Lantz, Nova Scotia, moving between different communities throughout his childhood. His father served in the Navy, and several of his relatives had served in both the First and Second World Wars.   

In high school, Doutre worked part-time at the warrant officers’ and sergeants’ mess in Ottawa, where his father served as the committee president. Seeing the military lifestyle up close inspired him to follow in his father’s footsteps and enlist.   

Under the blazing Afghan sun, amid sandbags and shellfire, Corporal Matt Luloff found time to write songs.

“It was a great outlet, it helped me make sense of everything that was going on around me.”

As a member of the Task Force Kandahar battle group, Luloff did security, navigated fighting patrols on foot in the Panjwai-Zharey district and, at the end of the tour, transported troops along the world’s then most dangerous road —Highway 1 from Kandahar Airfield.