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Volume 79 • No. 7
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Friday, July 3rd, 2015 www.carlyleobserver.com facebook.com/carlyleobserver
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Paul Nichols journeys across Canada for veterans
Kelly Running Observer Staff
Canadian Forces veterans can have a difficult time reintegrating into civilian life, but it’s an invisible burden they bear. Although the country heavily focuses on veterans of the First and Second World Wars, Canada has three generations of soldiers in need of being helped and thanked for their services. Paul Nichols, 46, is a veteran who has taken it upon himself to bring a voice to others. Oftentimes veterans come home or move into a community after serving the country and quietly live without even their neighbours knowing about their service. It’s a silent struggle that can affect veterans’ lives as transitioning from military to civilian life including family breakups, mental illness, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Nichols was a soldier with the Calgary Highlanders and Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. He served during the 1990s in Bosnia and Croatia, but found that returning home and leaving the Photo by Kelly Running military would be his greatest Paul Nichols has spoken with many veterans throughout his journey and is seen here speaking with a veteran from Wawota. challenge. This has now led to Nichols’ efforts in a crosscountry horseback ride for the because of her. I had lost my way for a couple of years and I really struggled. I Communities for Veterans Foundation. spent a lot of time alone then and more time with her.” “Deciding to do this, that’s a big question, one with a long answer,” Nich“When you’re asking a horse to go forward and it’s not moving, and you ols smiled. “It’s a culmination of a lifetime of experiences. I was in the military keep asking and asking, you’ve got to change up what you’re doing. It makes and when I left I was coming from a high point in my career. It was an exciting you look inside and sometimes you don’t like what you see, so you’ve got to time in my life, I had served in Croatia and Bosnia then came home and was address that. Getting results on her actually made me get along better with my helping in the battle school.” wife.” “I was part of a tight family, a strong brotherhood, there’s a bond that dePaul has since rejoined the military serving as a Canadian Ranger, velops amongst guys that you’ve served with. Terry [his wife] and I wanted to through this he and his wife run a military course teaching basic horsemanhave kids, so we decided to move to her hometown of Quesnel. In small town ship. B.C. I found that it was difficult, there was not a strong connection there for “A lot of them haven’t ridden horses before and by the end of the week veterans. It was difficult for me and for us, I was leaving that tight knit family we do some intense riding,” Terry explained. “And they all say that they’ve and felt lost.” never felt as calm or as patient as they have with them.” Paul and Terry each have a background with horses. When Paul was lookContemporary veterans are in need of help when transitioning from ing for a new horse he was introduced to Zoe who helped turn his life around, a military life to a civilian one and this is the message the Nichols’ want to and is one of the horses Paul has brought on the ride. See Paul Nichols on pa age 2 “She’s a pretty special horse,” Paul stated. “I’m a different person today
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