Wreath-bearer to the Queen: The story of Warrant Officer Olivia Vernelli
Olivia was 6 months old when her father was killed in Afghanistan
Two nights before the most important salute of her cadet career, Warrant Officer Olivia Vernelli walked the ground at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, rehearsing each step and every turn with precision and dedication.
The 16-year-old member of the 3rd Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment (3RCR) - 2642 Army Cadet Corps served as escort on Tuesday for Queen Camilla and as the wreath-bearer for the ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier alongside King Charles.
In many respects, she is her father's daughter.
Master Cpl. Scott Vernelli was precise and meticulous, a soldier's soldier.
There's a seriousness and maturity about Olivia that's way beyond her years and it shows in the multiple cadet awards she has won.
She was a little more than six months old when her father died alongside another soldier, Cpl. Tyler Crooks, in an insidious improvised explosive device attack during a combat mission in western Kandahar province in March 2009.
She never really knew him.
Her mother, Marcie Lane, a Silver Cross widow and Olivia's biggest cheerleader, has worked hard along with family and friends to keep her husband's memory alive.
Olivia, however, said the sense of connection is strongest when she puts on her cadet uniform and walks through the doors of the drill hall.
"When I go into the military buildings for parade night, I see a picture of him in the hallway. And many of my cadet instructors knew my father and they tell me many amazing stories about him," Olivia said in an interview with CBC News, prior to escorting the royals.
"Since my father passed away when I was very young, I didn't get the opportunity to hear his stories and what he did in the military. Joining the cadet program made me really connect with my father as I wear the same [3RCR] cap badge as him."
Olivia said she is considering making a career in the military and possibly applying to the Royal Military College, extending a long line of family service. Both of her parents served, along with other relatives, dating back to the Korean War.
She said she was "very excited" to escort the Queen and deliver the salute.
While she only got to say hello to the royals — true to her nature — she was prepared to answer questions and her father's memory and legacy of service is top of mind.
"One thing that I would like people to remember about my dad is that he was very kind, and he always stuck up for others and he did not put up with bullying," Olivia said, adding that he died on his third tour of Afghanistan.
"I like to remember that he went because he knew that the children there and that people needed to be saved, and that just shows that he's a really great person. Even though he had a baby and a family back at home, he still went back to fight for other people."
Echoes of that call to service were heard in Tuesday's speech from the throne.
The King invoked memories of shared sacrifice with allies, including the U.K., in two world wars in his address to Parliament and remarked on how he saw representatives of every corner of Canada.
"I see the guardians of the fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Canadian Charter and, as King, I thank you for your service to your fellow Canadians, across the length and breadth of this vast and great nation," the King said.
For a young woman who has grown up without a father, Olivia has a deeper understanding and appreciation of service and sacrifice, more than most people.
As the years go on, she said, the challenge for her is to stay attached to the man she hardly knew.
"I stay connected doing the things that he enjoyed. So, playing sports. He loved playing sports, especially hockey," Olivia said, noting that he cheered for the Boston Bruins and growing up she would often dress in a Bruins jersey and watch the hockey game.
"Overall, I just want people to know that, I think, that if he was still here today, he would be an amazing father."
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