Morris Brause, a well-known military man in Windsor-Essex sat with Archie Neilson Friday at the Legion Branch 594 on Howard talking about his beginnings. “You opened my eyes to the wonderful things you can do through the Legion,” Brause, Legion Zone A1 Commander, told Neilson. The commander isn’t the only person Neilson’s dedication to the military has impacted. He served 42 years in the Canadian Armed Forces beginning with the Windsor Regiment before transferring to the Cadet Instructors Cadre. After retiring he continued to serve as a volunteer with the Army Cadet program until last year. For his selflessness, Neilson was recently honoured by the Governor General, but his granddaughter says he thought he was having the wool pulled over his eyes. “When the secretary called us, emailed first, he didn’t want to call them back, He thought it was a scam,” Mandie Fox told CTV News while laughing as she recounted the story. “He’s like the Governor General would have no reason to call me.” It was the Governor General’s office, and it wasn’t a hoax. The 92-year-old recently received The Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers and is one of about 6,000 people to receive the accolade since 1945. “It’s quite an honour,” said Neilson, who also received a letter from Premier Doug Ford. “I’ve helped a lot of young people and a lot of adults too during their careers. One of Neilson’s cadets, now a cadet instructor, put his name forward for the honour which was backed by a few others of Neilson’s former cadets. Archie was a commanding officer of two army cadet corps here in Windsor. He was revered for his expertise as a shooter and has an award through the 2715 Cadet Corp named after him for best rifle shot. He once took a rifle team to England where his team won. Not all of his cadets served in battle, but some did. “We had a couple go to Afghanistan, and there’s a couple more that went to Bosnia,” he said. Neilson was a four-term president of Branch 594 and one of just three lifetime members in a branch of over 1,000 people. “I think he’s made an absolute, marvelous impression upon so many people,” Brause said. “That’s a lifetime of dedication and he has been dedicated since he was a young man so yeah, that’s very impressive.” Family members found out how dedicated he was at his recent birthday party. “Going through everything to put in a timeline together for this birthday, it was just non-stop. On thing after another and I found out stuff I didn’t even know,” Fox said. Neilson continues to make a difference and his work with veterans is just as deep. As we head into poppy season, Neilson looks after four Legions who brought in about $56,000. All of the money is set aside to help veterans and their families with things like housing, home repairs, and funeral costs. “Our veterans are still struggling and their families are struggling. Hopefully we can raise enough money to help the veterans and their families.” This weekend he’ll be at the cenotaph as the Windsor Regiment celebrates its 90th anniversary. He won’t be marching but he’ll be there, like he always is.
