The best thing about the Toronto Maple Leafs game on Monday night wasn’t the 2-nothing win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
It was seeing the hard work of the women and men at CFB Trenton fully recognized on the national stage.
Monday’s game on Prime was also the 20th annual Canadian Armed Forces Appreciation Night, where they honoured the hard-work and dedication of all of our military personnel.
We also had a special demonstration during the puck drop as members of 424 Search and Rescue Squadron dropped from the rafters to the ice for the pre-game ceremony.
Members of 436 Transport Squadron were then singled out for their efforts on the CC-130J Hercules aircraft taking vital supplies around the world.
I can’t begin to say how proud I was not only of our serving personnel and all who support them at home base, but also of the way the Leafs singled out people from Canada’s busiest airbase for the ceremony.
By doing so, they shone the spotlight on two of their most vital missions – airlift support and deployment operations overseas and the life-saving search and rescue operations that CFB Trenton has coordinated for decades across a huge area of Canada itself.
It was the briefest of demonstrations and reminders of just two of the many important missions being flown out of Trenton every day, but it was enough to make people pause and recognize that the bravery and excellence demonstrated by our military personnel extends far beyond the field of battle.
I’m Paul Martin and that’s what I see looking Beyond the Headlines.
