A Truro soldier who lost his battle with post-traumatic stress disorder was honoured at the Remembrance Day ceremony on Civic Square.
Colonel (Ret’d) John Boileau presented the Sacrifice Medal to the family of Warrant Officer Michael McNeil at the Truro Cenotaph on Nov. 11, five years after he took his own life on an army base in Ontario. The Truro Legion also presented McNeil’s loved ones with a special ribbon.
“He was the best brother you could ever ask for, definitely,” said McNeil’s sister Janet. “I would tell him that I love him very much and I miss him and I miss our laughs and our talks and nobody had a better heart than he did.”
McNeil joined the Canadian Army in 1994 and served in the Third Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment, deploying on peacekeeping tours to Bosnia and Kosovo in the late 1990s. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, McNeil completed two more tours in Afghanistan, serving in Kandahar province where Canadian and allied troops suffered constant attacks by Taliban insurgents.
Back home, McNeil enjoyed spending time with his children Raianne, Ethan, Emma and Nicholas Simms, his stepson.
However, he was found dead at the military base in Petawawa, Ontario, on Nov. 27, 2013. McNeil was just 39 when he died and at the time was one of four apparent military suicides in just two weeks. He was suffering from PTSD after his time in Afghanistan.
He had previously lost his cousin Frank Mellish, a soldier from Prince Edward Island, to a rocket attack by Taliban insurgents in 2006.
At the time of his death, McNeil’s brother Kevin called for more awareness and support for soldiers living with PTSD. Kevin was not at the Nov. 11 ceremony in Truro.
Born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, McNeil grew up in Truro, where his immediate family still reside.
“He was a dedicated soldier and that’s all he wanted to do, to serve his country and he did it well. He liked the outdoors, to hunt and fish. He was a good father,” said McNeil’s father Michael Stephen McNeil. “If he was here, I would say, ‘good job’.”
All told, more than 1,000 people came to the Truro Cenotaph to mark 100 years since the First World War’s end. Canadian soldiers who fought in later conflicts including the Second World War, Korea, the Middle East and Afghanistan were also honoured, as were peacekeepers and those who served in Europe during the Cold War.
As well as meeting with the McNeil family, Colonel Boileau served as the reviewing officer for this year’s Remembrance Day parade. He retired after a military career spanning 37 years, serving Canada, the United States, Britain, Germany and Cyprus.
Boileau later gave a speech on the vital role Canada’s Merchant Navy played during the Second World War, ferrying millions of tons of supplies across the Atlantic for Allied troops fighting in Europe and North Africa.
“Having been at Remembrance Day ceremonies in many towns and cities across this great nation, I have to say that Truro gets it right. It is always very heart-warming for me to see so many people turn out for Remembrance Day – especially our young people,” said Boileau during his speech at the Truro Legion.
Local cadets, members of the Nova Scotia Highlanders, veterans, other Legion members, police and civilians all attended the Remembrance Day parade at Truro’s Civic Square.
At sunset, church bells in Truro and across Canada rang out to mark 100 years to the day since the Armistice ending World War I took effect.
