A member of the Canadian Forces Base (CFB) in Edmonton participated in the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on Monday.

Corp. Lucas Mullens, crew member of Lord Strathcona’s Horse, was one of 12 from across the country selected by the Remembrance Day Sentinel Program as a special guest of the Chief of the Defense Staff and Chief Warrant Officer of the Canadian Armed Forces.

“I feel very honored to have been chosen from all the other deserving soldiers in the Army,” he said during an interview over the weekend.

Mullens, 40, was awarded the Medal of Sacrifice for his time as a Leopard 2A6M and Leopard C2 gunner in Afghanistan in 2009. His leg and back were severely injured when his tank was hit by an improvised explosive device.

After a long recovery, he climbed the 5,895-meter-high Mount Kilimanjaro in 2011.

Since returning to service, he has served in various positions, including as a driver with Coyote Reconnaissance Troop in Latvia in 2019 as part of the Forward Presence Battle Group.

But his 2009 injuries continued to affect his life and that is why, in 2022, he decided to undergo a below-knee amputation.

In October he passed the CAF work aptitude test.

“I’m happy to be inspiring other people. I thought I was just doing my job. People from the regiment pass by and say hello to me and say I’ve inspired them. When I pass people running, it lifts their spirits. It’s up to me to pace them.” I only have one leg,” he told CTV News Edmonton.

The Sentinel Program was created in 1998 to recognize outstanding members of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for their dedication, professionalism and performance.

Candidates are evaluated based on deployment experience, community involvement, physical fitness and behavioral history.

“I have family who have served before and it is a great honor to remember them and their sacrifices,” Mullens said.

“If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t have our freedoms.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Shelby Clarke