Sammy Sampson joined the Canadian Forces in 1987. In 1988, he deployed on the Iranian border as a Signal Corps Radio Operator in an isolated observation post, at 18 years old. By the time he retired, Sammy had served 21 years and completed seven tours of duty in front line units overseas including Iran, Kuwait, Rwanda, Haiti, Central Africa, Bosnia, and Afghanistan. After re-mustering to the Engineers in 1999, Sammy served almost 10 years as a Geospatial Technician (retiring as a Warrant Officer), working within the highly classified NDCC 2; working a 3-year secondment to NATO Intelligence in Italy; and supporting all Tier 1 and Tier 2 Special Forces units in Southern Afghanistan in 2002. Since his time in Rwanda, Sampson has lived with post-traumatic stress disorder from the horrors he witnessed there. Having retired from the military, Sampson is currently the vice-president of the Rwanda Veterans Association of Canada, working to bring Veterans together for wellness, commemoration, and camaraderie. “We want to provide better outcomes for a special group of Veterans,” Sampson says, “and to give help to those who need it.”
