Canadian war veterans include more people than most of us are aware, and it's affecting the service people as they try to transition back into society. That's from Paul Nichols, founder of the Communities for Veterans Foundation, as he rides horseback across Canada raising awareness.

"This is an awareness campaign. What we're doing is we're reintroducing the Canadian people to our contemporary veterans, and reminding them of the other three generations that have done a hard, hard job for this country since the Second World War. We're traveling west to east. I left Victoria on April 13th, and we're heading for St. John's, Newfoundland. The whole trip will take us about 211 days."

He relates some of the highlights of the effort.

horse guy
Paul Nichols, founder of the Communities for Veterans Foundation

"It's been an amazing journey. This is bigger than one person's story. I've got my own story of my own military service. I was in Croatia, Bosnia. I served in Medak. It was a busy time to be in the infantry. And my own story of transition -- I had my struggles, but eventually I found my way and everything turned out okay. But there are struggles. And it's because the Canadian people don't often recognize our contemporary veterans. And we still have a belief that our veterans are strictly the 93 year-old men that landed in Normandy. And we're not trying to take away anything from their service, or anyone's service. We just have to look after our boys in that time of transition so they transition well. The idea of this ride is to include as many of our contemporary veterans with me as I can. My wife's a therapeutic riding instructor. Terry's along with me. She puts our troops through a quick riding lesson -- just safety checks in boxes. And then they come and join me -- two, three at a time. I've got three riding with me today. We create a little bit of discussion around that. I've had about 150 join me so far, and the by the time I get to St. John's Newfoundland, over 700 Canadian veterans will have joined me on my ride. And they add their story to my story. So, it's one guy's story, ten, fifty a hundred, two hundred, five hundred. And I think we're seeing a common theme over and over again of the difficulty in that time of transition. "

Nichols explains how the ride works. "I'm riding my horse right across Canada, and it's a relay. It's not a pilgrimage. And I'm being joined by my contemporary veterans, sometimes three at a time, depending on where we are, and depending upon their riding ability. We have to keep it really safe and we have to look after the welfare of our horses."

He stresses his greatest concerns.

"With so much trouble with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the operational stress injuries -- and we just lost another one of our soldiers five days ago to suicide -- we do very, very well. And PTSD is a real thing. I don't want to downplay that at all. We have a great support network within the military. We have a strong brotherhood, we have a strong family, and we're there to lean on each other when we struggle. But it's when we leave that military family, we leave that community and we transition into small towns, big cities that don't often have a connection with the military -- it might be different here with Shiloh being so close, and with the air wing, people may have a closer relationship with their military. But we still think of veterans as strictly the old men. So, if we can get support during that trying time of transition then I know, and I can tell you from personal experience that I know, we do very well. When you're wondering and questioning the value of your own service -- you're questioning the value of your sacrifice, and hard work, and struggling with some of those experiences, and then you're not getting support from home, and you're not getting recognized for your service -- then it's pretty easy for a guy to lose his way."

Nichols explains what he's setting out to accomplish. "I want to create some discussion. So, I'm putting guys in the saddle. This ride is not political, and I don't have answers. But what I do know is that the Canadian people need to start talking. So, we're here to create some community -- put the guys in the saddle, create a bit of discussion. That discussion will create some awareness, and that awareness will create an atmosphere where maybe we'll see some change. And when a guy's wondering and questioning the value of his own service, then maybe someone will rally around him and we'll save that one."

He outlines the kind of recognition of which service people are in need. "We're not looking for red carpets and special parking lots. The community of the military is known around the world for our quiet professionalism and our stoicism. But that same trait doesn't serve us well when we leave the military and transition into community. We need to have our communities sort of lift their heads, and recognize our veterans for who they are."

He asks you to help spread the word eastward. "Something else that is very important is we're heading east across Canada, if they can please, please spread the word east, so people know that we're coming. So, often the story's picked up as we're leaving through town. We're kind of yesterday's news. So, we do need some help getting word to the east, and visiting our website: (click here) communitiesforveterans.com."

Nichols says they're engaged in some activities while in the Province. "We've got a couple of events while we're in Manitoba. Today, we're coming into Portage and we have an event at the Legion at 4:30 p.m., and there's a dance at the ANAVETS. And then on the 15th we're going into the Forks in Winnipeg, and we're going to ride right down Portage Avenue from 17th Wing. And I got three veterans with me -- actually six that day, and we're breaking it up into two legs for that portion of it. And then we're going to be at the Morris Stampede. The Canadian Professional Rodeo Association has been amazing in supporting our ride, and we're going to be there for a few days, and we're going to be speaking with the people and taking part in some of the celebrations there."

When asked about personal highlights during his journey, Nichols responds, "There's been some just amazing experiences. The stories feed me and keep me moving. We were in a little town in Saskatchewan, and we received a warm welcome, and they had a chili cook-out. It was a nice, sunny afternoon. And they said they didn't have any veterans in town. There was a couple World War II veterans, but there were no contemporary veterans. And we actually picked up on someone who was standing at the back of the crowd, and watching but not taking part. You don't have to look very hard to recognize a military bearing. So, I went and spoke with him, and it turns out he was a veteran of the mission in Somalia living right there in a small town in Saskatchewan. So, we opened up. He came for a riding lesson and it was the first time he'd been thanked for his service (voice breaks). We have letters from school children in our home town in Quesnel. And every one of our riders gets a letter. So, that was the first thank-you he had for service. So, he's coming to join me in Ontario."