Royal Canadian Navy captain returns home to Amherstburg to mark Remembrance Day
A Royal Canadian Navy captain from Amherstburg hopes people recognize the sacrifice veterans have made but also the sacrifice current members of the military and their families are making when it comes to serving Canada.
Captain Mark O'Donohue, currently the Deputy Commander of Canadian Fleet Pacific in Esquimalt, British Columbia, is back home in Amherstburg this week to take part in Remembrance Day ceremonies.
O'Donohue says it's important on Remembrance Day to know the history and sacrifice of our great-grandparents, grandparents and all the families.
"It doesn't matter what your views are on war or politics, this is recognizing that sacrifice and I think that's important we do that as a country," he says. "I think it's important that current serving members are able to be part of that dialogue with the community to bridge that gap of knowledge of what the military does and what the military did."
The 48-year-old O'Donohue was the commanding officer of the HMCS Calgary and its 253 crew members during Operation Artemis 2021, which saw the ship receive a Canadian Forces Unit Commendation this past September for record setting drug-seizing efforts during its seven-month deployment in Middle Eastern waters in 2021.
The Calgary’s efforts halted the flow of 33,573 kilograms of illicit narcotics worth more than $130-million Canadian.
Captain (Navy) Mark O’Donohue, Deputy Commander Canadian Fleet Pacific, holds HMCS Calgary’s Unit Commendation during a the Sept. 29, 2022 ceremony. Capt. O’Donohue was Calgary’s Commanding Officer during the 2021 deployment, which led to the Unit Commendation. (Image courtesy of the Government of Canada)
O'Donohue says it was a privilege and honour to serve with and lead such an amazing crew on HMCS Calgary.
"I had really talented dedicated professional young people from all across this country, it made my job easy, to be quite frank. They were the ones that did the heavy lifting, they were the ones that knocked it out of the park and broke that international record, they were the ones that made it easy." he says.
On April 23, 2021, Calgary seized 1,286 kilograms of heroin, which ranks the largest heroin bust in Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) history, eclipsing a previous record heroin seizure set by the Australian warship His Majesty’s Australian Ship Darwin in 2014 off Mombasa, Kenya.
O'Donohue says it's an honour to wear the uniform, to lead people and interact with so many amazing Canadians.
"To see how resilient young people are today and how despite something as bad as a pandemic, to see them turn to and break those international records, and serve their country in the most meaningful and selfless way, I carry that when I wear my uniform," he adds.
Commander Mark O’Donohue, HMCS Calgary Commanding Officer; Cdr Meghan Coates, Executive Officer; and Chief Petty Officer First Class Mark Chambers, Coxswain, stand on the ship’s forecastle as Cameron MacKay, Canadian Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor-Leste; Diedrah Kelly, Canadian Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations; Colonel Andrew Cleveland, Canadian Defence Attaché to Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei and Timor-Leste; and two of their staff members wave farewell from the jetty as the ship was alongside in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 2, 2021. (Image courtesy of the Government of Canada)