This year’s Remembrance Day Parade at SaskTel Centre is commanded by the Commanding Officer of the North Saskatchewan Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Sansom. His Command Team is Deputy Commander Major Mike Graver and Regimental Sergeant Major Chief Warrant Officer Jason Balcaen. A news release from the organizers of the event says all three have long careers in the Canadian Military with deployments overseas, and they also have a family history of military service.
Lieutenant Colonel Sansom’s maternal grandfather, Alexander Niven Stables, served in the First World War with the British Royal Artillery in Mesopotamia, now known as Iraq. His paternal grandfather, Private Thomas Sansom, also served in the First World War with the 46th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. As well, two of his uncles, Art and Charles Sansom served in the Royal Canadian Navy in World War II. Lieutenant Colonel Sansom was deployed to the Middle East three times. He says, “No matter where you’re serving in the Middle East, it’s a different experience – the heat, the culture, even the landscape are very different from what we are used to.” Thinking about his maternal grandfather, Sansom adds he can only imagine what it was like for him to go from the Scottish Highlands to the desert in order to fight a war.
Major Graver is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. His maternal great grandfather, Corporal Charles Richards, served in the First World War and his grandfather, Frank Richards, served in the Royal Canadian Airforce during the Second World War. He says, “Both my grandfather and great-grandfather died when I was too young to know them, so I never had the chance to speak with them about their military experiences. Nor were their stories ever passed down. Like so many Veterans, after their respective wars they both came home and carried on with their lives. I often wonder what their experiences were like compared to my own service in Afghanistan.”
Regimental Sergeant Major, Chief Warrant Officer Jason Balcaen, has a generational connection with his Regiment through his Grandfather Joe Balcaen and his great-uncle Bert Balcaen, both Second World War Veterans who were members of the Regiment. He says becoming the Regimental Sergeant Major of the same Regiment his grandfather and great-uncle served in was one of the proudest moments of his own service.
