Exclusive: Richard Wayne Golden honoured with King Charles III medal….See More

On Feb. 15, Sergeant (Navy) Richard Wayne Golden (retired) was honoured at the recent installation of the new Vimy Ridge 108 Unit ANAVETS (Army Navy Air Force Veterans) for his service in the Royal Canadian Navy and in the US Army (Vietnam) and his ongoing involvement with the Royal Canadian Legion and the Manitoulin-North Shore 176 ANAVETS of Canada. Golden is also a past executive of the Legion and the War Pensioners of Canada.

Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP Carol Hughes presented the King Charles III Coronation Medal to Golden at the Renaissance Active Living Centre in Elliot Lake, in recognition for his service in the Royal Canadian Navy and for his service in the American Army during the Vietnam War. The medal is also in recognition for his continued service for decades helping veterans. Golden was nominated by his fellow comrade, Colin Pick, a retired Sudbury Police Sgt. and a British Army veteran. Golden was completely surprised when he was presented the King Charles III medal by Hughes.

This past September, Golden was the recipient of a joint ANAVET award when his name was submitted by the ANAVET provincial president to the American Legion. Golden received that award in September at the national convention in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

Golden joined the Royal Canadian Navy when he was just shy of 18 years old and spent five years aboard navy ships primarily in Arctic waters. When he came home he went to work for INCO in the Creighton Mines. After a few years he left INCO and decided to travel and see more of the world. He was out in Portland, Oregon when he made the decision to join the US Army in 1967 and went on to boot camp in Takoma, Washington. He spent two tours in Vietnam which left him with PTSD for many years. His experiences helped shape the man who has continued throughout his life to advocate for veterans in both countries.

His late uncle Charles Golden also served in the US Army before the First World War was officially begun. His uncle’s unit was the First Infantry in Europe. There were no records for the family to research and Golden always wondered about his uncle’s service. With the help of the Royal Canadian Legion in Little Current and Roy Eaton, Golden was able to uncover much of this information about his uncle who was buried in the Little Current Cemetery. Golden wanted to honour his uncle and it was then in 2015 that he formed a rifle team which he named the Sgt. Charles Golden Silver Star Veterans Rifle Team to do an honourary shoot at his uncle’s gravesite. Golden says that the RCL in Little Current donated seven rifles to the newly formed rifle team.

Ten years later, the rifle team is still doing ceremonial shoots at veterans gravesites. The team, over the years has done hundreds of shoots in Manitoulin, across the North Shore and in southern Ontario. The team is made up of veterans or family members of veterans including police officers. It is an all-voluntary group who make up the team and there is no funding and the team travels at their own expense to the various towns and cities to honour past veterans at their grave sites.

Currently, the team members are: Robert Miron (Espanola), Paul Abbott (Little Current), Brian Bird (Little Current), Deborah Mastine (Elliot Lake), Ed Duncan (Elliot Lake), Phil Maynard (Elliot Lake), Jeff Cartman (Sudbury), Don Skrumeda (Gore Bay), Mandy McGraw (Aunduck Omni Kaning) and of course Wayne Golden (Massey)

Golden says they have at least two shoots scheduled this spring. One shoot takes place on April 2, at the ANAVET Cenotaph in Stratford, Ontario. The other is in Windsor at the Canadian Windsor Memorial for Vietnam Veterans.

Golden says they have Lee Enfield .303 rifles to use at the ceremonial shoots. He says they do not do fundraising but they do accept donations to help with expenses for the team. He also added that they are always welcoming new members to the team.

He and Ed Duncan are working on obtaining a charter for ANAVETS units in Sault Ste. Marie and for the town of Massey.