Two army cadets in Chilliwack were awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal during an annual inspection on the weekend.
The 1725 Royal Canadian Engineer Army Cadet Corps held its 84th annual Ceremonial Review at Sardis Sports Complex on Saturday, June 14.
That day, chief warrant officer (CWO) Melissa Zhang and master warrant officer (MWO) Trevor Johnson were each given a King Charles III Coronation Medal. It is awarded to those who have made a "significant contribution to Canada or to a particular province, territory, region or community of Canada, or have made an outstanding achievement abroad that brings credit to Canada," according to the criteria.
There are approximately 8,700 cadets in B.C., and of those, 39 were selected to receive the medal.
Before the awards, reviewing officer Major Ken Prince inspected the 60-70 cadets, and later said the youth were "very impressive."
"As an army cadet myself, I do remember the 1725 engineer cadets were always known to be a cut above – highly trained, highly motivated," Prince said.
"I remember going to summer training competitions, multi-core exercises, and seeing that the 1725 engineers were bringing home the awards and most of the recognition. So from what I see here today on parade in 1725, and in conversation with your commanding officer, I can certainly say that 1725 is maintaining that tradition of being a cut above."
Other awards that day included: the Lord Strathcona Medal to CWO Ian Simpson; the Royal Canadian Legion Medal of Excellence to MWO Trevor Johnson; the zone biathlon gold medal to Sgt. Jessenya Vallely; the zone biathlon silver medals to MWO Trevor Johnson and Sgt. John Tsagaris; and two Chilliwack Fish and Game Club bursaries to CWO Ian Simpson and Sgt. Eunsung Lee.
The event was also a chance for parents to see what their kids had learned throughout the year, and the cadets performed a demonstration after the awards presentation.
