By Jaime Polmateer
Local Canadian Ranger Dave Bjorkman recently returned from Ottawa where he guarded the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as part of the National Sentry Program.
Bjorkman, who is part of the 4th Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, said this marks the first time the Canadian Rangers have been asked to provide personnel to guard the tomb at the National War Memorial.
“It’s an incredible honour; I walked up to the tomb for the first time and I got goosebumps on my arms, it was just awe inspiring,” Bjorkman said.
The Unknown Soldier represents Canada’s fallen from all the wars the country has fought in and the National Sentry Program helps educate the public on the Canadian military members who didn’t return home from combat.
The program enlists different units from the Canadian Armed Forces to provide members for sentry duty and being this is the first time the Canadian Rangers were asked to participate, Bjorkman and his fellow Canadian Rangers have made history.
He explained how his grandfather, great grandfather and great uncles all served in the Second World War, making the honour of guarding the tomb that much more important to him.
“Being chosen to stand guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is the most incredible experience I’ve had as a Canadian Ranger and the honour I felt at being chosen was also incredible,” he said.
The Canadian Rangers are a reserve unit that provides a military presence in small or sparsely populated areas around the country that can’t be economically represented by the Canadian Armed Forces.
Bjorkman joined the Canadian Rangers roughly nine years ago and aside from performing services like search and rescue, he said the position lets him share the knowledge he’s gained growing up in rural areas of B.C.
As part of the Rangers he teaches things like wilderness survival, ATV instruction and mountain snowmobiling to different units within the Canadian Armed Forces.
When it came time for sentry duties at the tomb in Ottawa the Rangers got a request for interest and Bjorkman put his name forward and became one of the 11 Canadian Rangers selected for the job.
“We did our postings over 10 days, an hour at a time, rotating in and out and at all times there are two sentries, and then a third person answering questions to the public,” he said.
“The Canadian Rangers aren’t seen in Ottawa very often. We’re in remote areas, we’re not in the public eye.”
Bjorkman and the 10 others who were selected represented 5,000 Canadian Rangers across the country.
