Nov. 11: A day to honour soldiers and their sacrifices
11/11/2024 11:08 AM
Micah Johnson is wearing a poppy and thinking of "pops."
The Saskatchewan Roughriders' defensive tackle is honouring his late father — and all soldiers — today.
Nov. 11 is designated as Remembrance Day in Canada and Veterans Day in the United States. The date because fighting concluded in the First World War on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.
Nathaniel Johnson Jr., Micah's father, was one of the first soldiers to serve in Afghanistan after the conflict began in October of 2001.
At the time, he was just past the midpoint of a decorated military career that would reach 26 years. He held the ranks of platoon leader, company commander, battalion commander and colonel while serving his country with pride and distinction.
All of that, and so much more, is on Micah's mind today.
"I think of the sacrifice from all the soldiers … the sacrifice from all the parents … the sacrifice from all the families," he says.
"It goes deeper than all the soldiers. It affects the whole family. For us, it's just appreciating the sacrifice from the soldiers, my pops being one.
"We had to sacrifice a lot as a family. He was deployed a lot. He missed my whole senior year of high school."
Growing up, Micah lived in several states — a reality of life for military families that transfer from base to base. That isn't even accounting for deployments overseas.
"As a kid, you don't really understand it," Micah says. "It wasn't fully locking in that 'your dad's going away to war and he might not come back.'
"As you get older, and as I've gotten older, you learn to respect it more. It was almost like a job and we knew Dad had to go away. But the older you get and you understand what they're really sacrificing, it's everything.
"They may have to sacrifice their life, men and women."
Members of the military have accepted that risk for generations, before and after the World Wars, to preserve our way of life.
"It's a real thing," Micah says, "and you understand what people sacrifice for the freedom you have today."
For Nathaniel Johnson Jr., the honour of a military career was more of a calling than a sacrifice.
"He had a very strong personality and anything he was involved in, he wanted to do it at the highest level," a proud son says. "It was the same thing with the military.
"Coming out of the ROTC program when he was in college, he was able to come in as an officer. That's all he was about.
"He was a military man through and through. It was special."
There is a special place in Micah's heart for everyone who joins the forces. Fittingly, his workplace — Mosaic Stadium — is located only a few first downs away from the Regina Armoury.
"You can't miss it," he says. "It's always something that's on your mind, especially for me.
"My father passed a couple of years ago and it was a big-time deal. Even for his funeral, the way the military sent him out, it was beautiful. It was an amazing thing.
"The armoury kind of reminds me of that. For me, anything military just goes straight to my pops."
