A 20-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces found himself broken and needing to rebuild when he re-entered civilian life—blacksmithing helped him do that. Data from Statistics Canada’s 2022 Canadian Veteran Health Survey shows anxiety and mood disorders are much more common among veterans than the general population, with one in five veterans experiencing suicidal ideation in their lifetimes. But there is hope and help available. Cameron Bennett, a 20-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, is proof of that. “Always as a kid, I wanted to join the military,” said Bennett, whose grandfather fought in the Second World War, including during the Dieppe raid, where he was captured. “His stories, they always inspired me,” he told Your Morning Winnipeg. Bennett joined the military when he was 18, joining the PPCLI with a couple tours in Afghanistan and one in Bosnia. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, where he fixed planes. But his life changed when, in 2018, he re-entered civilian life due to a medical release. “I found it extremely difficult,” Bennett said, noting the lifestyle in the army was very different. “Normal conversations for soldiers that have been overseas aren’t normal in civilian life. So it was very hard trying to reconnect and find groups of people.” But Bennett said the hardest part was trying to rebuild himself after realizing he was broken. “I always thought I was a bad person, especially after I was released, thinking I was just told I can’t do the only thing that I’ve known to do,” he said. He credits his dog Bishop, who passed away last winter, with helping him rebuild. “He was the one that actually jumped up on me one day when I was going through an episode, couldn’t figure out where I was, what I was doing, and was really hating myself,” he said. “He jumped up on me and started licking my face… I guess for that split second there I got a moment of happiness, realizing he was just looking at me, at who I was, not what other people look at.” He said that moment helped him turn his life around. Now Bennett is trying to help other veterans going through a similar story. To do that, he is using the craft of blacksmithing as a means of rebuilding. Forging Ahead is Canada’s first veteran-founded, veteran-run charity helping veterans and first responders reconnect with purpose and wellness through artistic blacksmithing. “This way you’re doing a little bit more physical stuff,” he said. “Guys don’t have a problem with doing that stuff, and it gets people talking more.” He said blacksmithing helps veterans focus and find purpose. “You’re also learning to accept making mistakes,” he said. Bennett said Forging Ahead, based in Manitoba, is not just about remembering the past—he said it’s about rebuilding the future. More details about the charity can be found on the Forging Ahead website. -with files from CTV’s Katherine Dow
