Remembrance Day takes on new meaning for young war veteran

For some, the image of a war veteran includes grey hair and a wrinkled face. But that's not necessarily always the case. With each year that passes, Remembrance Day brings with it a new batch of young Canadian veterans.

Kurt MacDonald, who was born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, was just 19 years old when he served in Afghanistan in 2008.

MacDonald was a reservist when he was called into action as an artillery soldier near Kandahar.

"To be that young and in a war zone, you don't really notice where you are when you're on the plane," MacDonald told CBC News.

Then he landed on the tarmac.

"We went down the alley and there were all these other soldiers that were getting on the plane we just got off. [They] had finished their tour," he said.

"You see their faces. You don't see anything else. Some of them were really excited to go home. Some of them ... they'd been through a lot. You kind of wonder to yourself, what did I just get myself into? It's shocking."

MacDonald said his eight-month tour changed him for life.

"They train you for it, and you know what to do, but at the same time...[you think] you're dreaming," he said.

"After a while, it becomes second nature ... you don't even think about where you are anymore. You rarely think about Canada ... because you're thinking about what your job is and what you need to do that day," he said.

MacDonald said he has no regrets for his time overseas at such a young age.

"I wouldn't know a Kurtis MacDonald and the life that I have now without that."

After his tour, MacDonald returned to Sault Ste. Marie and attended Algoma University.

'We see veterans as old, aging'

MacDonald said veterans are often seen as old, aging men and women that served in the world wars.

"You don't see younger veterans. That's not what comes to mind," he said.

It was at his first Remembrance Day ceremony that MacDonald realized he was now a veteran. 

"At our ceremony in Sault Ste. Marie, they asked all the veterans to stand up," he said.

His friend sitting next to him prodded him.

"He said, 'buddy that's you. You need to stand up.' Right there, that was the moment where Remembrance Day was never the same."

Up North10:03How old is a veteran? This Sault Ste Marie man served in Afghanistan when he was 19 years old

When we think of veterans, we often think of grey hair and wrinkles. But an increasing number of veterans are young. We spoke with Sault Ste Marie veteran Kurt MacDonald, who was 19 years old when he served in Afghanistan in 2008.