Governor General presents Meritorious Cross and Medal to two Sappers.
https://www.gg.ca/en/honours-ceremony-november-2024
Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada, presented medals during a ceremony at Rideau Hall on 5 November. Two Sappers were among the recipients:
Master Warrant Officer Marty Charles Gratrix, M.M.M., M.S.C., C.D.
From October 2022 to April 2023, Master Warrant Officer, then Warrant Officer Gratrix was deployed to Lask, Poland, as the task force sergeant-major and liaison to the Military Engineering Training Coordination Centre. With exemplary leadership and professionalism, he designed and implemented a highly effective training program for Ukrainian sappers, while providing critical mentorship to a team of instructors facing their first operational deployment. Master Warrant Officer Gratrix’s extraordinary efforts directly contributed to battlefield survivability for members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which brought great credit to Canada.
Lieutenant-Colonel Melanie Lake, M.S.M., C.D.
As commander of Joint Task Force–Ukraine from March to October 2021, Lieutenant-Colonel Lake demonstrated outstanding professionalism and resolve under challenging conditions in the execution of Canada’s support mission to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Her exceptional leadership and commitment to duty helped instill calm during Russian mobilization concurrent to a COVID-19 outbreak at the mission’s onset. Throughout her deployment, she greatly advanced capacity building from a tactical focus to an increasingly operational focus, and was instrumental in evolving the mission.