No one will ever need to tell Micah Johnson the importance of Remembrance Day.
Or Veterans Day, as it is known in the U.S.
The big Calgary Stampeders defensive end had a military upbringing as his father served in the American Armed Forces.
“My dad was deployed, off to war,” Johnson said. “The thought of your father not coming back …
“You grow up on military bases with kids and their fathers don’t come back, their moms don’t come back, it makes you appreciate everything a lot more.
“It made me a lot closer to my father and I appreciated hard work early on. My father missed my whole senior year when he was deployed so it was just me and my mom.”
Johnson figures he lived in eight or nine different States as his dad, who retired a full bird colonel, bounced from one base to another in addition to serving several tours in Afghanistan.
“It helped out that I had two older brothers,” the 28-year-old said.
“(Football) was the one thing that was constant for me.
“No matter where we were at, my family kept us in sports so that made the transition a lot easier.”
Stamps head coach Dave Dickenson halted Friday’s practice just prior to 11 a.m., said a few words and then the entire team recognized a moment of silence.
“We know the world is a crazy place right now,” Dickenson said. “I’m not from a military background but we live in Great Falls, Montana, and we have a big air force base there.
“We all respect what these unselfish people give. They’re the true warriors. We act like it. But we know where the true stuff goes on. Our guys respect the people who give us the chance to do what we do for a living.
“It was good for our team. We’re a tight team and you could tell they knew we were doing it for a reason.”
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