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GI Blues for Canyon
Country music superstar sworn in as honorary colonel
By GORDON DELANEY Valley Bureau
Friday Feb 22, 2008
The country music superstar’s regular uniform. (Ingrid
Bulmer / Staff)
Country
singer George Canyon is appointed honorary colonel of 14 Wing
Greenwood on Thursday. (GORDON DELANEY / Valley Bureau)
FOR
George Canyon, Thursday marked one of the most nerve-racking
performances of his career.
Yet
he didn’t sing a note or strum a guitar or shake hands
with fans in the front row of any concert stage.
Instead,
the country music sensation from Pictou County, dressed in
an air force uniform, spoke about his respect for the men
and women in the Canadian military and saluted the flag while
the national anthem was played.
Mr.
Canyon wasn’t at 14 Wing Greenwood to sing his popular
country songs. He was there to be sworn in as honorary colonel,
a role he takes very seriously.
"This
is the best thing that I think has ever happened to me in
my career," he told reporters after a brief ceremony
in front a couple hundred military personnel.
"I’ve
done a lot of amazing things in my career, but this one is
far beyond anything I ever could have imagined. I don’t
think I’ve ever been this nervous before."
Mr.
Canyon, who once made it to the semifinals of the TV show
Nashville Star, has won numerous music accolades, including
an East Coast Music Award two weeks ago as the fan-voted entertainer
of the year.
He
also has a song that pays tribute to the military, called
I Want You to Live, recorded after a trip to visit troops
in Afghanistan.
The
role of honorary colonel is a long-standing one in which a
high profile person is appointed to the ceremonial post to
boost the morale, inspire and motivate the troops.
In
Canada, honorary colonels are appointed by the minister of
defence, in this case another Pictou County native, Peter
MacKay.
The
appointment is for three years.
Col.
Derek Joyce, commanding officer at the base, welcomed Mr.
Canyon, who was joined by his wife, Jennifer, and children
Kale and Madison.
Col.
Joyce said Mr. Canyon made a strong impression on personnel
at the air force base during past visits.
"It
was a true connection," he said.
It
was Mr. Canyon’s dream as a child to serve in the military.
He wanted to be a pilot and attended air cadet camp as a teenager,
attaining the rank of corporal.
His
dreams were dashed later when he discovered he had juvenile
diabetes.
"I
thought there was no hope of ever being in the air force,"
he said Thursday.
"It’s
been 33 years of figuring that dream was dead and now I’m
a member of what I believe is the best military in the world."
Mr.
Canyon said Greenwood is special to him.
"It’s
where I attended air cadet camp. . . . It was a big part of
me becoming a man. . . . I credit my time here at Greenwood
to a lot of the success in my life," he said.
"I
have the utmost respect for our men and women in the military,
and hopefully that shows."
One
of his responsibilities, he said, will be to help the public
understand and become more aware of the role of 14 Wing Greenwood
and the Canadian military in general.
In
another week Mr. Canyon will travel overseas with his band
to play for the military at an undisclosed location.
(
gdelaney@herald.ca)
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