The Run to Remember torch relay for PTSD awareness from Regina to Nipawin featured a stop and supper in Humboldt on Jul. 15.
The relay will stop in Nipawin for the Wounded Warriors Weekend which runs from Jul. 28-31.
Blake Emmons, who founded the weekend to provide a recreational escape for around 200 veterans, RCMP, EMS, and other service workers who have PTSD or other mental health issues says that the Humboldt Legion has always been a great support, especially in the first years when they were running on blind faith.
“When we first came up with the idea of a Run to Remember, one of the first places we wanted to come to was here but also, they were instrumental in supporting our Paws for Veterans service dogs.”
The relay started out in Regina with Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor Vaughn Solomon Schofield lighting the torch and sending it off to numerous stops along the 16 day trail, including Wynyard, Watson, Wakaw, Carrot River, and Melfort.
When arriving in Humboldt, the procession travelled from the Farm World parking lot down HWY 5, stopping at the cenotaph to lay wreaths before travelling to the Humboldt Legion.
Humboldt veterans, along with Humboldt EMS, Fire Department, and RCMP walked with the procession as well as members of the Humboldt Running Club, a local Cadets troop, and members of the Run to Remember team.
Sherry Hogemann, along with Legion President, Niki Sokolan, planned the Humboldt stop, which included a catered supper donated by the Bella Vista Inn, and talks from Emmons and Joe, a two tour Afghanistan veteran who is living with PTSD. Along with his wife, Mel, they spoke about the weekend event and his service dog, Vixen, who was given to him at the 2013 Wounded Warriors Weekend.
It was important to have Joe here to speak, says Hogemann, because there have been recent fundraisers in Humboldt to purchase a service dog for one of five Saskatchewan veterans in need of one.
Emmons says he has seen a lot of support from towns along the way since many veterans and service people from across the country and province come from small towns. He has also seen the run break generations boundaries.
Watching World War 2 veterans being followed by young kids on bicycles, Emmons says he is reminded of In Flanders Field especially the line, “the torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die.”
“I thought about that. There were the old guys and there were the young ones.”
Emmons is a veteran himself and sees the common misconception people have about who a veteran is.
With the end of the war in Afghanistan, the definition of veteran now includes young soldiers who have seen war as recently as 2014.
They now make up, according to Veterans Affairs, the 685,300 estimated veterans who have experienced pensions cuts and an increase in PTSD related suicide.
A Globe and Mail investigation in February 2016 puts the total at 54 soldiers who committed suicide since returning from Afghanistan.
Part of providing much needed support for veterans is making sure they know that they are not alone, says Emmons.
For Joe, the weekend brings him together with fellow veterans, he says, who are going through the same things that he is.
“I’m not alone. (It) gives us a place to talk with someone and relate to them and not think that I am all alone and I’m slowly going crazy with my own thoughts,” says Joe.
Mental illness stigma is still a problem in society and soldiers especially are trained to not talk about it.
Joe knows this first hand and says they are taught the typical A type mentality of nothing affects you.
“There’s an old World War 2 saying, ‘eat your weakest man.’ Generally guys don’t let on that there is anything wrong with them. Something wrong with your mind, you suck it up and keep going.”
The self-stigmatization is there as well, says Emmons, which makes it hard to open up to people about PTSD. The weekend focuses on providing that support with people sharing their experience.
“We’re soldiers; we’re tough, we’re mean, we’re whatever. Nothing wrong with me...When you get to talk with somebody and open up a little, and that person says, I understand. You know damn well that that person understands.”
With the Run to Remember reaching completion in Nipawin on Jul. 22, Emmons says more support is needed for the Wounded Warriors Weekend, whether it be monetary donations or volunteering.
Another unique way people can support the Wounded Warriors Weekend, says Emmons, is greeting the cavalcade of veterans when they arrive in Saskatoon, on Jul. 28. The cavalcade to Nipawin will depart Saskatoon around 2:30 pm and will reach Prince Albert at 4:30 pm before continuing on. They will arrive in Nipawin around 6:30 pm.
Jul. 31 is also the Heroes Hoedown in Nipawin and is open to the public.
Visit http://www.woundedwarriorsweekend.org/ for more information.
Visit humboldtjournal.ca/photos for more pictures from the Run to Remember procession.
