Andrew Holleran was born and raised in Oromocto, New Brunswick. He graduated from UNB in 2001 and joined the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in 2004, training as an artillery officer. From 2006-2010 he was attached to the 5ieme Régiment d’artillerie léger du Canada (RALC), where he served as a Troop Commander/Command Post Officer. Through that […]
Brynn Bennett was born in Toronto in 1984, where he grew up in the city’s Etobicoke borough. He attended York University and decided to join the Canadian Forces in 2008; he felt motivated by the images he saw of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan and wanted to do his part in the service of the nation. […]
Paul Hale was born June 15, 1954 in Oldham, England. His parents moved to Canada when he was quite young, so Paul was raised in northern Ontario, ending up in the Timmins area. There he decided to join the Canadian Forces after serving in the reserves, and while in university he chose the officer path. […]
Helene Le Scelleur was born November 22, 1972, and she grew up in Greenfield Park, on the South Shore of Montreal. On the second day of her last year in high school – when she was 17 – a recruiter showed an infantry regiment presentation. She stated that “she wanted to be part of something […]
Andrew McIntosh was born February 20, 1964 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, moving to Souris, Prince Edward Island when he was one year old. He grew up in that small town, born into a family with an extensive military tradition. Andrew recalls that the opportunities in Souris were limited, so with his parents’ blessing he joined […]
Ken Lutz was born February 27, 1957 in Souris, Prince Edward Island. He grew up in that small community alongside his three siblings; Ken’s father was a mechanic but Ken spent much of his early years at the farm across the street, and he even attended a one room school at one point. He […]
Richard Hough was born in Napanee, Ontario, where he grew up on a dairy farm. He wanted to be a pilot, and that led him to join the Canadian Forces; while his dream of pilot did not work out, he did qualify as a navigator, and he set off to RMC to study engineering. He […]
Derek Prohar grew up on a farm outside of Avonlea, Saskatchewan. He attended high school at Notre Dame College in Wilcox, Saskatchewan, where he played hockey, football and rugby. Those sports and academic interests took him to McGill University in Montreal, where he received a Bachelor of Arts and played varsity hockey with the McGill […]
Chris Snider was born March 19, 1932 in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. His parents were Canadian but were living in the U.S. at the time, and as the 1930s unfolded they moved a few more times, eventually landing in Oakville, Ontario. The realities of the Great Depression had kept them on the move, as Chris’s father looked […]
Major Tyler Wentzell is a currently serving member of the Canadian Forces, one who hails from Nova Scotia. He comes from a family with a military and especially a policing tradition, and as a teenager he worked on an oral history project that involved interviewing some of the same veterans that we have met here […]
Commander Leanne Crowe is a currently serving member of the Canadian Forces; she is on staff at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto and visited Crestwood twice during the 2022-23 school year. She was born in Vancouver in 1964 and grew up in different parts of Canada, including Montreal and Oakville, Ontario. In high school […]
LCdr Nicholas Kucher hails from the Canadian Prairies, where he was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. He made the decision to join the Canadian Forces (CAF) coming out of high school and college. He made his way to St-Jean, Quebec for basic training, and as a future naval officer he saw advanced training and […]
Major Joshua Van Tine is a currently serving member of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). He hails from Burns Lake, B.C., where he remembers that an outdoors lifestyle where he was a scout and a Sea Cadet led him to the CAF. He has been involved in numerous deployments, including in Afghanistan as part of […]
Major Alexander Prymack is a currently serving member of the Canadian Forces. Born in 1985, he grew up in the Calgary area. His military career began in 2003, when he attended RMC in Kingston, Ontario. From there he became an artillery troop commander and forward observer, and was deployed to Afghanistan during Operation Attention, where […]
Major Travis Kelley had a family background in the military, so he was interested at a young age. He studied Engineering at the University of Waterloo and joined the Army Reserves when he was finishing his undergrad. He then did basic training at the Wolseley Barracks and completed other training as a Combat Engineer in […]
Chelsea Braybrook was born in the city of Sarnia, Ontario, where she spent the majority of her childhood with her both her parents as well as her younger little brother. She never intended on being a soldier at young age but instead had aspirations of becoming a star like her childhood singing idol Cher. As […]
Alison Lucas was born in Ottawa to parents that moved around frequently, since her father was in the Air Force. Her mother was an Emergency Room nurse who took a “break” to manage the 3 kids and all the moves. By the time she was in high school, she had moved 8 times, but was […]
Major Lance Hoffe is a member of the current Canadian Forces, one who specializes in combat engineering. As such he performs a diverse array of duties, from base set up to IED disposal. He has been deployed overseas on a number of occasions, including three tours in Afghanistan, where he worked to provide crucial tactical […]
Major Levon Bond is a member of the current Canadian Forces, one who specializes in air force intelligence operations. He has been deployed overseas on a number of occasions, including in Haiti, where Canada provided disaster relief after the devastating earthquake. More recently, he was sent to Afghanistan and Qatar, where he worked to provide […]
Major Philippe Gibeau is a member of the current Canadian Forces, one who specializes as an aerospace engineer. He has been deployed overseas on a number of occasions, including in Afghanistan and Kuwait, where he worked to provide support to coalition forces in their battles in the ongoing war on terror. In May of 2018, […]
Major Amanda Aldous is a member of the current Canadian Forces, one who specializes in logistics. She has been deployed overseas on a number of occasions, including in Afghanistan and Kuwait, where she worked to provide support to coalition forces in their battles in the ongoing war on terror. In May of 2018, Major Aldous […]
Last week, Crestwood’s Grade 10 students spent 3 days and 2 nights visiting our nation’s capital. After departing Crestwood early Wednesday morning, our first stop in Ottawa was the Canadian War Museum. Students had the opportunity to learn about the role of military conflict in Canadian history. Exhibits stretched as far back as pre-contact conflicts […]
Major Reginald McMichael joined the Canadian Forces in 2001, having made the decision to attend Royal Military College. After initial training, he was deployed in Alberta as a member of the PPCLI, and he rose through the ranks as an officer. From there, Major McMichael was sent on several overseas deployments, serving in Afghanistan at […]
Major Andrea Keeping grew up in the small farming community Russell, Manitoba and entered the University of Manitoba with the intention of studying to be an architect. Instead, she would end up finishing her education at Kingston’s Royal Military College and embark on a career that has seen her deployed in support roles to Afghanistan, […]
Major Olivier Lefrancois joined the Canadian Forces in 1997, having made the decision to attend Royal Military College. After initial training, he was deployed in Quebec, where he helped in the recovery efforts after the ice storm. From there, Major Lefrancois was stationed in different parts of Canada, including North Bay, Resolute Bay and Cold Lake, […]
On Thursday, March 30, the Grade 5 and 6 classes were visited by internationally acclaimed Canadian author Deborah Ellis. Deborah wrote the international bestseller The Breadwinner, which was inspired by the true story of a young girl who cut off her hair and pretended to be a boy so she could earn money to support her family in […]
Major Dawe joined the Canadian Forces a little later than the average recruit, making the big decision when she turned 30. After initial training, she focused on the logistical and personnel side of the military. In this regard she was deployed to Afghanistan, where she was stationed at Kandahar Airfield. While there she was responsible […]
This Remembrance Day, the Crestwood community gathered together to commemorate those who sacrificed their tomorrow for our today. The assembly included moving musical contributions from the senior music classes and the Crestwood Voices Chamber Choir. The Oral History Project shared two documentaries from Canadian veterans who shared their war-time experience. Crestwood students were fortunate enough […]
At a young age Major Dennis was interested in aviation. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Cadets and obtained his glider pilot license and private pilot license while in high school in Halifax, Nova Scotia. After attending university at Mount Saint Vincent University, he obtained his commercial pilot license and flew as a flight instructor […]
Major LaJeunesse was born in Timmins, Ontario and graduated from Sudbury’s Laurentian University prior to enlisting in the Canadian Forces in 2003. In 2009, he was deployed to Afghanistan as part of OP Athena. In February of 2016, Major LaJeunesse visited Crestwood as part of a delegation from the Canadian Forces College, where he was […]