The Cochrane cadets have added a new award showcasing leadership and outstanding effort in honour of late teen and former cadet Lamont Murphy.
“I am very proud of my son. He gave me countless moments to be proud of him and now this award gives me another opportunity to be proud of him,” Lamont’s mother, Kari Murphy, said choking back tears before presenting the award.
“He really was outstanding.”
Lamont died last August in Cochrane, just two days shy of his 19th birthday. He had joined the 2512 King's Own Calgary Regiment (KORC) Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps in 2009, where his family said he excelled in every activity he participated in and also had attained rank of chief warrant officer, the highest rank in the Canadian Cadets.
This is the first year the C/CWO Lamont Murphy Leadership Award was presented.
“This is a very special award that has a lot of meaning behind it,” said Capt. Johnny Mo, with the Cochrane Cadets. “We have awards that focus on results but this is the first award that talks about overall effort.”
Cadet Master Cpl. Jonathan Wong was the 2016 recipient of the inaugural award.
“I was shocked and surprised – I didn’t think I would get the award,” Wong said.
Wong was chosen for the award because of his leadership skills and for showing “outstanding initiative” Mo explained.
Wong said he always knew he wanted to join the cadets and the chance to be with his friends and travel to Vimy Ridge in 2017 was the final push he needed to sign up less than a year ago.
“I was quite happy to get the award,” Wong said.
The C/CWO Lamont Murphy Leadership Award will now be an annual award within corp.
The 2512 King’s Own Calgary Regiment Royal Canadian Army Cadets Corp, from Cochrane and surrounding area, hosted its annual ceremonial review on Sunday at the Mewata Armories in Calgary.
The group meets weekly in Cochrane every Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Bow Valley Baptist Church between September and May, with summer camps running from July to August.
For more information about the Cochrane Army Cadets, visit www.kocr.ca.
