The article below was shared with permission by Maj (Ret’d) Bruce Henwood. These are his remarks at the Wall of Honour Ceremony.
Photo Credit: Karen McCrimmon on X
Good afternoon,
This is truly a humbling honour to be recognized amongst such distinguished other Wall of Honour inductees past and present.
I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the other inductees. From 2024:
- Naval Captain Marc Garneau, who unfortunately passed away in June
And from 2025:
- General Walt Natynczyk, and
- Captain John Carswell
I also checked and none of us share the last 2 digits of our college numbers, so there is no beer for us!
I was asked to say a few words about my RMC experiences and today. I think I could say this is a 2 part journey.
Flying Officer Robert Earl Reid, class of 1954
But before I go any further, I would like to acknowledge a line in my introduction that was just read – that I came from a military family, it is a bit more than that. My birth father was Flying Officer Robert Earl Reid, class of 1954 who was unfortunately killed when his T-33 Silver Star crashed when I was just 18 months old. His name and photo are upstairs on the wall in McKenzie Building and in the 7th Book of Remembrance in the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill.
The first part of my journey started with my 4 years here at RMC. I could summarize my college experience as being unremarkable, to be very honest. I loved being in the band as a piper and on the college rifle team, my stint on the fencing team was very short. My love for Canadian military history was curated here at the college. I was not an exceptional cadet, rather one of the rank and file, a two bar-man! Even my profs, at graduation, commented on my “exceptionalism”, congratulating me on being 6th in my honours history class and then capping it off by saying there were only 6 in the class!!!
Truth – Duty – Valour. TDV. I firmly believe these words were well entrenched as part of my RMC journey and have matured over time; but never did I imagine how those 3 words would be tested. It is something that RMC, unbeknownst to myself, subtly prepared me for – the challenges that lay ahead.
My military career, which I loved, was cut very short when I was very seriously injured in Croatia, back in September 1995, 30 years ago in just 2 weeks.
My 2nd journey began when I did not die in that unmarked minefield in Croatia thanks to the heroic efforts of British Army Major Toby Bridge who received the Medal of Bravery for his actions that day in the minefield. I embarked on a new path and this was not the path or journey I chose; but over time I have since come to embrace it.
After I was injured, I realized something terribly was wrong with how our injured, myself included, were treated and compensated. I felt so compelled to do “something”, like nothing I have ever experienced before, “it was a calling” – and I had no idea what that “something” would have led to.
The struggle – the journey I embarked on was real, with many hurdles and disappointments along the way, while at the same time trying to recover from my numerous injuries, and adapting to my “new normal” of being a double amputee; but after 7 years advocating for change, things changed, and for the better. As it turned out, at that time, over 195 veterans had been disadvantaged by the flawed compensation plan and many more since then, considering those injured in Afghanistan. Every now and then I encounter one of those veterans and they have all said “you’re that guy – thank-you”, and I find that very heart-warming considering, what I went through advocating for change.
It was the right thing to do – to push for change. It became my duty and despite the challenges I was able to soldier on. Truth, Duty and Valour were subtly visible in the shadows of this effort. There was more, after my wife visited me while I was in ICU in Germany, the second visitor I had was a classmate on business in Europe who deviated from his work to come to the hospital, he is here today Brian Read, thank you. Some of the first visitors I had while I was recovering here in Canada were also classmates of mine, Mike Ward and Tony Ashfield, both of whom are here today, thank you. When the challenges of trying to change the system became daunting another classmate of mine stepped forward to help, Mike Kennedy and he is here today, thank you.
There is a common theme here – my RMC classmates! RMC became much more than just an Institution, it was cathartic. I was not alone, it was hope, there was this fraternity, that exists to this day and it is empowering. I also received a card signed by a lot of my classmates from our 15th reunion weekend that had just happened. I have that card with me, a bit of show and tell!
I am proud that I was able, through my own journey, to make the Canadian Armed Forces better at how it cares for its injured and how it compensates those very seriously injured. I learned a lot about myself – resilience and perseverance. RMC, 45 years ago, prepared me for this. I was able to lead the charge for change. I became the voice for the voiceless, championing for changes for care, compassion and compensation for our injured, and it worked!
My journey was not singular. As I mentioned I had a lot of help, with some of those key individuals being here today – again, thank you for your support on this journey.
But, more importantly, my wife Judy and my 3 sons Andrew, Alex and Lance who are all here today with me, were absolutely critical in this journey, putting up with me and supporting me. I am very proud to have them here to witness and be part of this honour and recognition, as they have all journeyed with me, on a path they did not choose. They are often overlooked and they were collateral damage.
I would be remiss if I did not share with you that today is Judy’s birthday – happy birthday to my greatest supporter, champion, love of my live who has stuck with me through thick and thin, and through those darkest of days. Happy Birthday Judy!
To sum up, I would like to leave you with the words of my fellow 2024 recipient, astronaut Marc Garneau. He once said:
“We must learn from the vision and courage of those who have gone before, and we must think of the hopes and aspirations of those who will inherit the world we leave behind.”
And so with that, and on behalf of my other fellow recipients, thank you for this humbling recognition.
TDV!
Bruce Henwood RMC Class of 1980