Army honours 92-year-old ranger

Pictured is ranger Abraham
Metatawabin with Canadian Rangers and military officers after receiving his
first clasp for long military service.

Members of 3rd Canadian
Ranger Patrol Group (3 CRPG) presented 92-year-old Ranger Abraham Metatawabin
with the first clasp to his Canadian Forces’ Decoration in a ceremony on Jan.
30. The ceremony to place at his home in Fort Albany during the 20th
Anniversary Surveillance Patrol. Metatawabin is the first ranger in Ontario to
receive a clasp to his CD. The CD is awarded to those who have served 12 years
in the armed forces and the clasp represents an additional 10 years of service.
The 3 CRPG is predated by the James Bay Rangers, of which Metatawabin was a
member. The James Bay Rangers operated with the same mandate in the same region
from the 1950s to the early 1970s as 3 CRPG does today. In 1995 Metatawabin,
who is a former chief of Fort Albany, re-joined the Rangers as part of the Fort
Albany Patrol. “Ranger Metatawabin’s long and distinguished career is an
example to the entire Canadian Army and, indeed, to all Canadians, of serving
your community and your country. I’m proud to have such a dedicated and
talented ranger under my command,” said Brigadier-General Omer Lavoie Commander
4th Canadian Division, in a news release.