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This is what we should hear about more in the media, the stories of what the people in the Forces do for John and Jane Q. Public.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/519867.html
Modest hero gets commendation
By ASHLEIGH McKENNA
He used to have trouble being called a hero, so now his wife tells him just to say thank you.
"I did what I had to do because that’s what needed to be done at the time," Master Cpl. Mike Leal said Thursday afternoon after being presented with the Chief of Defence Staff Commendation for going beyond the demands of normal duty.
"I’m assuming that hopefully anybody else would have done the same thing."
In March 2005, Master Cpl. Leal, then a corporal, rescued Paula Ferguson from her burning car. He woke up to see the crashed vehicle flipped on its side near his Seaforth home. The 24-year military veteran immediately jumped out of bed and grabbed a fire extinguisher.
Ms. Ferguson, a mother of three, had been on her way home to her daughters — then 11, five and three — when she drove off the road. Master Cpl. Leal, based at 12 Wing Shearwater, put out a bit of the fire, then broke the rear hatch window and carried her to safety.
"I don’t consider myself a hero because I did what I did," he said over the phone before sitting down to dinner at Ms. Ferguson’s home. They hadn’t met before the accident, but now "it’s almost like I have a second family," the father of two said.
Master Cpl. Leal, an avionics systems technician, was presented the citation by Lt.-Gen. Walter Natynczyk, the vice-chief of defence staff, while his wife and youngest daughter and Ms. Ferguson and her three daughters looked on.
"I suppose it made me feel special," he said of the laid-back, hour-long ceremony.
"But I don’t know; I did what I had to do."
Lt.-Col. Stephen Newton of 12 Wing Shearwater was also recognized in Thursday’s ceremony for extraordinary work.
The commanding officer of 406 Maritime Operational Training Squadron was honoured for his leadership and his dedication to his work with uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Lt.-Col. Newton, known as Fig, was working in Ottawa when the team he was leading developed the plan to test and evaluate the vehicles, leading to a series of Canadian UAV firsts.
Master Cpl. Leal said his framed scroll would definitely hang in his home and he would proudly wear his new gold bar adorned with three Maple Leafs. But that didn’t mean he made any special requests for Thursday’s dinner.
"Guys are easy; put food in front of them, give them a beer and they’re happy."
( amckenna@herald.ca)
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/519867.html
Modest hero gets commendation
By ASHLEIGH McKENNA
He used to have trouble being called a hero, so now his wife tells him just to say thank you.
"I did what I had to do because that’s what needed to be done at the time," Master Cpl. Mike Leal said Thursday afternoon after being presented with the Chief of Defence Staff Commendation for going beyond the demands of normal duty.
"I’m assuming that hopefully anybody else would have done the same thing."
In March 2005, Master Cpl. Leal, then a corporal, rescued Paula Ferguson from her burning car. He woke up to see the crashed vehicle flipped on its side near his Seaforth home. The 24-year military veteran immediately jumped out of bed and grabbed a fire extinguisher.
Ms. Ferguson, a mother of three, had been on her way home to her daughters — then 11, five and three — when she drove off the road. Master Cpl. Leal, based at 12 Wing Shearwater, put out a bit of the fire, then broke the rear hatch window and carried her to safety.
"I don’t consider myself a hero because I did what I did," he said over the phone before sitting down to dinner at Ms. Ferguson’s home. They hadn’t met before the accident, but now "it’s almost like I have a second family," the father of two said.
Master Cpl. Leal, an avionics systems technician, was presented the citation by Lt.-Gen. Walter Natynczyk, the vice-chief of defence staff, while his wife and youngest daughter and Ms. Ferguson and her three daughters looked on.
"I suppose it made me feel special," he said of the laid-back, hour-long ceremony.
"But I don’t know; I did what I had to do."
Lt.-Col. Stephen Newton of 12 Wing Shearwater was also recognized in Thursday’s ceremony for extraordinary work.
The commanding officer of 406 Maritime Operational Training Squadron was honoured for his leadership and his dedication to his work with uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Lt.-Col. Newton, known as Fig, was working in Ottawa when the team he was leading developed the plan to test and evaluate the vehicles, leading to a series of Canadian UAV firsts.
Master Cpl. Leal said his framed scroll would definitely hang in his home and he would proudly wear his new gold bar adorned with three Maple Leafs. But that didn’t mean he made any special requests for Thursday’s dinner.
"Guys are easy; put food in front of them, give them a beer and they’re happy."
( amckenna@herald.ca)
